Glimpse
by too enigmatic 2 b urs
Summary: Sam had loved and lost. She thought there was something special between her and that blue-eyed boy. He somehow built her up and broke her down. It was glorious and horrible. She closed that chapter. He closed himself. They wouldn't dare go back to that place. After all, the gazing game was over and all she can handle are glimpses. They are enough. They had to be[Gazing Game Sequel]
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Because when the rush of excitement, love and happiness is gone. You have nothing left but crumbs of those feelings and large chunks of negative emotions.

Because when you let go of something so amazing, you feel like you're no longer entitled anymore.

You feel like you're just not worth it. Not of the good things.

So, you chose to satisfy yourself with the suffering and just the small amount of blessings.

You cannot touch. You cannot watch, cannot gaze freely.

You just give it a Glimpse.

* * *

How long had it been? Five? Eight years? Sam tilted her head. Sam lost count. She released a sigh. She did not want to count. She shifted her weight on one leg. Inside her combat boost, her toes curled. _Seven and half years_, her mind sang. She bit her lower lip.

_Walking round with my head down_

_But I can't hide with these high heels on_

She stepped onto the platform. The train should be stopping by any minute now. The swarm of the commuters buzzed around her.

_Downtown in a thick crowd_

_But it's just you that my mind is on_

She took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. She should be proud. She finished college. She had a job. Her taxes were paid. Her bills were settled. She had a humble flat downtown.

_Dressed up, got my heart messed up_

_You got yours and I got mine_

Life was calm. Good, even.

_It's unfair that I still care_

Yeah, too calm for her liking. She huffed. Calm? Boring? She chose this. She did let him go, though if she would be brutally honest, he shoved her away first.

Did it matter? No.

_And I wonder where you are tonight_

She felt the ground rattle. The swirl of the commuters became alert, the unmistakable horn of the train blasted and the heat crawled up to her arms. Somebody hit her ribs and she doubled in pain. Nobody paid attention. The train halted and the doors slid open. People dove in.

When she recovered, the train was almost full. A couple ran past, hand in hand. They jumped in, laughing at themselves for barely making it in.

_Thinking it could be different_

_But maybe we missed it yeah_

She watched as the man with sandy blond hair braced the petite woman between his arms, shielding her from the rest of the people. The woman with a green, pixie cut hair looked up appreciatively at him and they both giggled.

_Thinking it could be different_

_It could, it could_

The doors banged shut. The woman's sling bag almost got caught in between, startling them. They both checked and saw the bag was relatively safe, another chuckle escaped them. Their eyes glittering with an emotion so wonderful, the man leaned down and kissed the woman's lips.

_It should've been us_

The air changed. Sam saw a cloudless night and smelled the damp trees and muddy soil. Her heart twitched and her breathing hitched. She could even hear him screaming.

He was screaming her name.

"Sam!"

Sam kept running. She leaped over a giant root and turned a sharp right.

"Sam?" She heard him pause but she didn't stop to look back. She pushed her limbs to go faster.

"SAM!" He sounded far but the intensity of his voice proved his anger. He probably figured out that she chose the long path, the wrong one, actually. She knew she'd get lost eventually but the point was to get him lost first.

Sam jumped over a moss-covered rock, grabbed a nearby branch and swung herself around. She landed on an uneven patch of soft, muddy ground which gave way under her weight. Sam slipped.

She would've slid and rolled in mud if it weren't for the hand that caught her arm and another that encircled around her waist. She looked up to see a pair of glowing green, fuming eyes of Danny Phantom.

Sam blinked. No. She was done with that. She already rode the trip to memory lane back and forth for the thousandth time and she swore she had enough.

She gave her head a little shake and glanced to the right. There was a black-haired woman in her mid-twenties wearing a lilac sun dress, the woman turned, and Sam's eyes widened, the woman's stomach was so round she looked like she just swallowed whole the biggest watermelon that she might burst with it any minute. She appeared anxious and then a tall man with raven hair suddenly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she turned with a relieved smile on her face.

_Should've been a fire, should've been the perfect storm_

Danny dropped her on the flattest area of the forest. Close to the edge. Sam planted her feet and crossed her arms over her chest, assuming a defiant pose even in the face of danger. She knew Danny wanted to scare her and she would not give him that satisfaction.

Danny lowered himself to the ground. They engaged in another stare down before he sighed and hunched his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Sam gawked. That wasn't what she expected.

_It should've been us_

_Could've been the real thing_

_Now we'll never know for sure, ooh_

_We were crazy, but amazing, baby we both know_

_It should've been us, us_

_It, it, it should've been us_

Filled up to the brim, the engine hummed and the train whizzed by, leaving Sam wondering what the heck she stood there for.

She kicked herself mentally and trudged back to the stairs. She might as well get a cab home if she would be spacing out the whole evening.

The frigid air outside swept away her clouded thoughts and Sam welcomed the sensation. She breathed in, forgetting that the air around her was polluted. She choked and wheezed. Heart galloping in her chest, she ducked to the nearest tree and heaved.

It was dark enough that people did not stop to check if there was something wrong. Well, she was a nobody so it would not be ever enough for people to gush over someone like her, dry heaving on the street. Tears pooled in her eyes and she swiped them. A few seconds later and Sam started to feel a fresher handful of air hit her organs and her heart rate slowed. She gulped handfuls of air greedily, though painful, and it helped in clearing away the rest of the smog that attacked her lungs. She had completely forgotten about her probably bruised side but a flicker of pain after breathing reminded her that it was still there.

She blinked. Even if he was not physically with her, he still managed to hurt her.

_Back and forth like a tug of war_

_What's it all for, do I want it back_

Sam knew she was being dramatic, and it was not his fault that she inhaled dirty air but well, she blamed him anyway. She blamed him for every little bad thing that had happened to her life. It would be easier to hate someone if they were the cause of her suffering.

Hate. Big word.

_I still got a little flame for ya_

Who was she kidding?

_Even though you drove me mad_

She clenched her fist and stood straight. She would be looking for a cab. She would be forgetting about this.

_Now and then, I pretend_

_That it's you when I close my eyes_

_You got yours, I got mine_

Looking around, people and cars blended in a chaotic harmony of rush hour traffic. It would be impossible for her to get a cab without pounding her fist to her chest and demanding that she saw it first. She was about to fish out her phone to book a car instead when something caught her eye.

A black sedan pulled in front of her and the windows of the passenger side rolled down. A guy with the familiar set of eyes and mouth smiled at her from the inside.

"What does a pretty little thing like you doing in this street looking like you wanna go all nuclear on someone?"

Sam's eyes bulged and her jaw hit the ground, of all people in this stinking night. She did not know if she would like to berate him or as he put it nicely, "go nuclear on someone" but hell, it was short of a coincidental relief she had going on here for him to just—

"Oh god, here we go with the slack-jawed damsels." He shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Babe, I know it's not every day that some ultimate hunk like me would stop for some pretty thang like you but you got to show me some cognitive skills or else we'll be here all night."

Sam's mouth flopped open as she was unable to form a coherent thought. The nerve! After all these years, he had the guts to be this cocky with her? It took her several meditations to not punch something whenever she remembered and now, he was spouting some teen chick movie lines to her like they were old buddies?

Then she saw it, a twinkle in his eye and a pull of his lips, he was testing her. She would've fallen for it except for the fact that she could see his fist was clenched around the gear and his foot ready to slam down the gas. He was as nervous about this encounter as she was baffled on how to react.

Sam gathered her attitude, there was no room for courage in times like this, only the will to survive the night and the relentless curiosity she had all bottled up. She tucked in the dusty, old grudges and decided to take a chance. Tonight, she would see what this boring world of hers would lead her to. She would take this as any mature person would have. She slowly let the corners of her mouth pull up and shrugged, "Well, you know, pretty little thing like me cannot seduce a cab to take me home."

All the tension seemed to deflate with one sentence and the man on the wheel gave a hearty chuckle. "Oh, Sam, you shouldn't be resorting to that." He tapped a button on his left and the doors unlocked. He pressed another button and the door opened in front of her.

"Hop in, you, gothic goddess."

Sam stepped back, the night was just full of surprises. She paused long enough for him to worry again and just as he was about to retract the offer, she threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, why I thought you'd never ask!"

She folded herself in and shut the door. He groaned. She turned to him and arched a brow.

"You did not allow me to close the door for you." He glared at her.

"How many girls did you actually expect will fall for that?" It was his turn to shrug. She noticed his shoulders put on some bulk over the years.

"I dunno, maybe all of them except you?" He made a playfully irritated sigh and smirked at her. "At least, I still have this trick." He cleared his throat. "Buckle up!"

The seat belt latched itself and locked them both up in their seats. Sam tensed as she expected that it would strangle her but it held still. Without breathing, she waited, sitting on his car though made her stiff and silent, _way to go mature person!_ She almost gave in to the urge to rip the seat belt and bolt.

He checked if she was all tied up and once satisfied, shifted the gear and the car sailed smoothly back to the road. There was a pregnant pause and she could almost feel his hesitancy but she tried to relax and waited for him to initiate the small talk, to lead the topic. Sam almost clutched the edge of her seat but she knew she was way better than that.

"So…" He snuck a glance at her. She risked a tight-lipped smile. Suffice to say, it kept him going, "You look ready to slay, should I be checking your insta profile and looking up Sammynators Inc.?

Sam had to give him credit. She was entertained and for some reason, she could not stop smiling like she was some addict who got her high from compliments. It felt good to be praised sometimes, took some of the craziness of everyday life away. The tension eased from her shoulders and she found her palms up while looking at him exasperatedly. "Where is this coming from? Are you following a book now, 'Get Talking with the Ladies – Volume 1' or wait, knowing you, you probably downloaded an app for that."

He held up a hand long enough to waggle a finger at her. "Uh- uh, knowing me, I would be the creator of that app."

"Hmm. Point taken. I got to admit though, either I'm very rusty with socializing or you got better with talking to people."

He slowed to let a woman and her dog cross the street. "I vote for the latter. I mean I already have what it takes, I just needed the elixir that every techno geek deems unattainable," He paused to look at her. "Confidence."

Sam burst out laughing. "And you did not have that before? Like, are you freaking kidding me?"

He chuckled along with her and once they have settled again, his tone became more serious. "Enough about me, how are you? What's going on in your world?"

Sam swallowed. "Well… you know, finished school, working, moved out, paying my own bills. I'm living the ultimate teenage dream."

"Oh Sam, that could be anywhere between working as a waitress at some bar or flaunting the runway in Europe. Come on, you've got to give me something more to go on here."

"Aren't you a little ray of prejudiced sunshine? I work as a—"

There was a ring, a female, automated voice spoke, "Future Mrs. F calling. Future Mrs. F calling."

Sam froze. It took her a minute to realize that it was too loud to be his phone and it was the car's Bluetooth speakers announcing the intruder to their little bubble of a reunion. All the good-naturedness left her body. She kept her eyes on the road and pretended that she was not in the least bit anticipating or dreading him to answer that call.

He hesitated and kept driving. The tension was so dense it has blanketed the whole car, even the whole street. His gaze stayed on the road. The call was now on its fourth ring. Sam saw from the corner of her eye he clenched his jaw and raised a finger to answer the call but before he could tap the answer button, a ball just materialized on the road and he quickly hit the brakes. Sam's hand flew to grip the edge of her seat, the other clung to the hand rail for dear life. The car came to a screeching halt. Silence. They both let out a sigh as they looked at one another and waited.

She could tell he was worried but he still managed to give her a smile. "Sorry about that, you just know that if there's a ball coming, then there's a kid always chasing it."

Sam nodded, still a bit shaken. She could not argue with that logic, he did have a point. The ball disappeared down the street and no kid nor adult show up to follow it. They waited but the night was oddly deserted. When Sam turned back at him, he was staring at the little screen. The call already passed.

"Shit, now I'm going to have to explain that."

Sam felt a bit guilty. She bit the inside of her cheek. "You know what, you can just drop me here, I can just—"

"What, no! I just got distracted. I'll call her back later, but I'll get you home safe first." He eased his foot from the brake and switched gears again. The sedan glided back to the life.

She knew that in today's era, some guys could leave people hanging but there were still some of those old gems who try to do it the right way, like him, so to prevent any incessant chivalry and awkwardness, she steered the conversation back to light waters. Sam rarely took part in social talks and displays of humor but for the sake of this time, she braved it.

"You can just drop my gothic runway self to the next stop."

He choked, "Say what?"

"Didn't you just keep calling me a 'pretty little thing' a while ago?

"Oh, I'm sorry, miss. Didn't you just see who was calling? I maybe a charming angel when we met a couple of streets back but now that the love of my life remembered me, then I'm hers to keep." He finished this off with a dreamy sigh and a hand fisted to his chest.

She shook her head. "Poor woman."

He made a tsk sound. "So where do I need to dump your scrawny ass to?"

Sam gaped. She wanted to hit him just for the heck of it but since he was driving she settled on their verbal banter. "A while ago I'm a goddess, now I'm a scrawny ass." She gestured to the main road. "Just kick me at the 3rd gas station from here and I'll be out of your strawberry hair."

"Aw, don't you want to know where_ I _live?" His smirk never left its placed. Sam was about to point out that he just deflected her with the 'love of my life' comment and now he was back to flirting again when she suddenly sensed the underlying question, _don't you want to know where _he _lives?_

"No." She said quietly and glanced at the street, she pretended to be captured by the number of shops that lined the road.

_But I wonder where you are tonight_

The air between them thickened and silence enveloped the car. He focused on the road, seemingly waiting for the traffic light for their turn.

The light flashed to green and he changed gears again. The car zoomed into the night. The silence stretched.

"I missed you, Sam." He finally said without looking at her.

She stared ahead. "I missed you too, Tucker."

He nodded. He turned on the radio in a polite volume to discourage any serious talks.

_It should've been us._

* * *

A/N: Hello DXS fandom!

How are you guys? I hope that the phandom still lives in each of us. I have a little gift to all of you who has been with me every step of the way.

This is Glimpse. It's the – _drum roll –_ sequel of Gazing Game. For those who haven't read Gazing Game, feel free to check it out and send me your thoughts. I'd love to read them.

For those who have been with me since Gazing Game and had their heart wrenched with the events, I hear you and I'd like to thank you for the overwhelming amount of support that you've given. I've been toying with the idea of the sequel (plus your reviews really helped in shaping this decision), although I'm not sure if I can pull this off.

I have bits and pieces on how I'd like for the sequel to run and I'd welcome your thoughts about it. I'm still not sure if I can pull it off but hey, I'd like to see where it goes, hopefully you do too. 

I'd like to hear more from you. Don't hesitate to let me know, I'd like to see different perspectives for the story and who knows, maybe we can all build this together.

By the way, the song is _Should've Been Us_ by Tori Kelly and of course, I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does.

Please review.

_~ T.E_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After Tucker has dropped her off, Sam felt like she was thrown into the washing machine. She got whirled through memories of the past though this time, it was as if seeing it from someone else's eyes.

"_Sam," He swallowed, "D-da—" Tucker cleared his throat. "He and I, I mean we kind of fell apart not long after you guys…" He waved a hand in the air. "I mean we were still hanging out but not like we used to. I guess, we just kept it up for appearance's sake." He shrugged and continued, "I'm not going to get into details, man, but it was ugly." He snuck a peak at her reaction and when Sam was about to open her mouth, he looked away._

"_I know what he did was bad, unfair even. I'm not going to justify his actions, Sam." He clucked his tongue. "But I've got to admit, you broke him, Sam."_

_Sam was about to tell Tucker that his choice of topic was downright awful, and she was not in the mood to discuss it. Heck, she would never be in the mood to touch it within a ten-mile radius. However, since he decided to be suicidal and open this coffin of agony, he deserved to have a piece of her mind. _

"_Broke him? Tucker, are you even hearing yourself right now?" Sam scoffed. "Bad? What he did was horrible! No sane person would do what he did! He lied! He hurt people! He freaking—" She stopped herself on time. She wanted to get her message across that this was not something that could be forgotten and be swept under the proverbial rug, but she was losing her shit again. Over him. She gritted her teeth. "Let's just drop it, okay? It happened already and no matter what you say, what I say, it's done. Nothing and no one can change it."_

"_Clockwork."_

_Sam could not help it; her ire was rising, and Tucker was pushing this subject far too much. "Excuse me?"_

_He opened his mouth to explain but thought better of it and just shook his head. He exhaled and shifted the gear higher, the car gliding faster. "You're right, it was terrible. I don't think anyone could move on from that, but the point is, it was not an easy decision to make and to stick by."_

_Sam debated whether smacking Tucker in the head while driving would do the trick or if jumping out of a speeding car would get _her_ message across. She resorted in glaring at him and crossing her arms over her chest. "Tucker, what part of 'I don't want to fucking talk about this' are you not getting?"_

_He looked like he was about to answer her question, but she stared him down and that made him shut up. Satisfied with his silence, she finally dropped her gaze and turned her eyes back on the road. "Thank you. That was not so hard, wasn't it?"_

_He returned daggers with his eyes but otherwise remained silent. He parked the car by the shoulder of the street and looked pointedly at the gas station. Sam followed his sight and realized that he stopped at the 3__rd__ gas station, just like what she asked._

"_Oh, I didn't notice." She glanced back at him. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, but of all people, I think you're one of the few who would actually understand." _

"_I do understand, Sam, and I do care."_

_Sam felt something caught in her throat. She chose not to say anything further for fear of getting overwhelmed by her emotions again. She nodded and pushed the door open. She quickly exited the car and shut the door. The windows were rolled down again as he watched her quietly. She turned back to him with all the sincerity she could master, "Thank you, Tuck."_

_He nodded and took a deep breath. "You're always going to be my friend, Sam. You've also became kind of my best friend, whether you like it or not. Whenever you need me, I'll be there. Don't hesitate, okay?"_

_Her eyes were turning misty, so she bobbed her head a little too quickly._

"_And Sam? You might hate me, but what the hell, you deserve to know." He paused and looked at her square in the eye. "Danny loves you. He was protecting you in his own stupid, hero-complex way. Kill him in your imagination any way you want but he never wanted you to get hurt because of him. He had too many enemies and he did not want them getting any ideas when you're around him. He was just a kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders. We were all young, Sam. We make mistakes."_

_Sam's articulation skidded to a stop after hearing the words 'Danny loves you'. _

"_I know you're mad and you have every right to be but hopefully, after some time, you … nevermind. Just bear in mind that people learn, and people change. I'm really sorry." Tucker's eyes were glassy when he eased his foot from the brake, "Goodbye, Sam."_

The same phrase _Danny loves you_ were still ringing in Sam's ears. She could not help it; she was still reeling from her encounter with Tucker. All these years she spent speculating whether he truly did feel something for her and in one car ride with his best friend, she got this straightforward, love crap.

_He was protecting you in his own stupid, hero-complex way. _ Some people might have thought this as romantic, but she was not some people. Sam was the kind of slap-me-with-the-truth-or-I-will-throw-your-pity-back-to-your-teeth person, and she would not had gotten this far to just crumble again with the floodgate of emotions for one, stupid Danny Fenton.

Maybe hearing this side of the story did have some benefits. If it can be called as such. Sam now had the opportunity to prove to herself she was not one to mess with and if she ever meet Danny again, she would march right to him and demand real answers. She would drag him until he spouted some sense to her. She would not be buying the love crap from Tucker unless … No, it was not a plausible explanation. The hero lover complex card was just the easiest way to excuse things.

Sam did not get to be the manager and owner of Skulk 'N Lurk bookstore without knowing how to spot a lousy excuse from someone. No, she would not be accepting that.

She put her feet up on the coffee table of her apartment with a sigh, regardless of what Tucker said though, everything was all in the past, so it would not do her any good at all to dwell on it. It had been three days since her chance encounter with him and he probably got submerged back to his own busy life.

She picked up her guitar and started to play the song she has been trying to learn for more than a month now. Getting her heart ripped out by Danny gave her a lot of time to do something else, like not thinking about him. She was able to learn to play some bits of guitar, which was also because she initially wanted to learn to play the breakup songs that she was hearing and feeling that it applied to her.

Of course, it did not mean that it was the same reason she hoarded the bookstores for supernatural romance for young adults back in high school and even way back in college. It was not also the same reason why she eventually gained employment and further owned the same bookstore where she could find said books.

This was not the cause at all when she moved to this side of the city where supernatural stories were still whispered along the alleys and the cafes.

_Well,_ Sam smirked, it would not hurt to admit to herself that he played a role in the decisions she made in her life. If to summarize, her activities still revolved around him, but she tried to be as optimistic as possible and that was to reason out that she was only thinking of the best option to get away from one Danny Fenton.

She strummed the guitar and let her fingers expressed her anger over the matter. She was so consumed with what she was doing that she did not notice the time. Her phone rang, and Sam leaned to check who was calling. She carefully put away her guitar with one hand while the other scooped down her phone.

It was Frank, one of her crews in the bookstore. She paused before answering, it was almost eleven in the evening, the place should be already closed by now. Sam started to worry, it was a weekday and they were not expecting that many people. She also implemented an earlier closing hour since robberies were becoming rampant in the city and she did not want any of her employees nor the store getting the firsthand experience.

She tapped the answer button and held it over her ear. "What's wrong, Frank?"

She did not hear a response. "Frank? Is everything okay?" She heard a muffled conversation took place as if the mouthpiece was covered. Sam started to get some really bad feeling about this. "Frank? Say something, otherwise, I swear, I'm going to call 911."

She heard breathing on the other end of line and Sam jumped up. She scanned the room for her keys and jacket. She spotted her black hoodie by the back of the arm chair and strode to grab it then she made a beeline to the counter to swipe her keys, the phone still pressed to her ear.

"Sam." She stopped mid way through reaching her keys. It was a man's voice, definitely not Frank. "Who—"

"Sam, it's me." She heard what sounded like an argument between the man holding Frank's phone and Frank himself. "I'm just going to talk to her, okay? I'm not going to steal your phone, dude, or anything. For Pete's sake, calm down, man, thief?" She heard Frank cursing in the background. "Dude, have you seen my car, right there? I can buy 50 of this, and still have enough money to go to Paris. Just stay there, okay, yeah. Yeah, that is my car. No, man. You cannot touch it. Just look at it from there." She heard exasperation. "Yes, it's mine. Here are my keys." She heard the jingling sound and a beep to signalize the remote lock kicking in.

The man's voice seemed agitated now and the voice was farther when he spoke again. "No, you don't have to call the police. Your boss knows me." There was rustling, and the man's voice was patronizing when he spoke again, Sam could imagine him trying to tame Frank. "Look, I'll put this on speaker phone, so you can listen to us. She knows me, okay?"

He sounded like he finally won the argument and Sam waited. She leaned on the counter while thinking of ways on how to improve her employees' safety and security. "Sam? It's Tuck." She heard him gather himself together. "I need your help."

* * *

Half an hour later, she was inside Skulk 'N Lurk with a nervous Frank sitting with his head down like a child who was going to get scolded for his grades, while standing in the middle of the shop was Tucker, surveying every nook and cranny of her shop.

He was wearing black slacks and the sleeves of his white button-down shirt were rolled up to his elbows, a hand under his chin as he stared at an empty space at the top of the wall. "You could really use a CCTV, you know. I can ring up one of our best products and get this placed rigged up. You'd never know, people these days could just barge in and ransack it."

Sam rested her elbows on the glossy, black counter with a raised brow. "Yeah, I think I should really take you up with that advice considering you just harassed one of my guys a while ago. I wonder if there's some street camera footage that caught it somewhere."

Tucker stopped looking up at the wall and shot her a look. Sam saw Frank flinched from the corner of her eye. "I was asking nicely but your guy over there wouldn't let me in."

Frank bit his lip and gave her a pleading look. Sam shook her head. "I asked them to close early. It's not my fault that you did not make it before that." She went to the booth where Frank was curled up. She handed him the coffee and donut she bought before she came down the shop. "I'm sorry that one of my lunatic friends in high school gave you a scare, buddy." She ruffled his brown hair and he blushed.

"I'm sorry as well, ma'am." He squeaked. "I thought he was lying." Frank, who was just a nineteen-year-old kid looking for a decent job that Sam accepted, stole a peek at Tucker.

Sam chuckled. "That's okay. He does look odd and suspicious."

Tucker glared at them but said nothing. Sam turned back to the Frank. "I'd volunteer Tuck to drive you home after what he did but I know that your friends are probably waiting for you right across the street, so I'll let you go now. Thank you for today, Frank. Say hi to Leonard, for me, 'kay?"

He blushed again and nodded. He stood up with the coffee and donuts. He was about to ask something when Sam beat him to it. "No, you're not in trouble and it's partly my fault that you did not get to clock out early as planned so I will extend my apology in giving you a time-off tomorrow, with pay." She winked at him and Tucker thought the kid was going to pass out as his face was so red. He mumbled a quick thanks and exited the shop on a run.

Tucker watched him as he got into a car parked right across the street, just as Sam described, and the car flew into the night. Sam sat down on the arm chair on the corner and pointedly look at the seat across from her. Tucker took three strides and folded himself on the chair and was surprised, it was cozy as his own plush couches at home.

She did not even let him finish his appreciation over her choice of furniture and got right down to business. "Alright, Foley. Meeting me on a crazy night is fine, offering a ride is okay, but asking for a favor three days after all that has happened, considering what you and I discussed the last time we saw each other, this is just ridiculous! Claiming that we're friends and giving me a favor does not authorize you in asking favors from me and expecting me to go ahead with it!" She crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

"Then, you came barging in here and harassing my employees like you're some rich, entitled politician! You better be grateful that I didn't call 911 or the freaking military on you. Worse, I could've recorded everything and put it up on the internet for all the world to see." Her eyes blazed and it fixed him right on the spot.

Tucker gulped, he forgot how scary Sam could be when she was pissed. He tried to keep his cool, otherwise this would explode in his face before he could even get a word out. "I'm sorry, okay? I know that it wasn't the usual way to approach someone, but I had work to do and I didn't know that you weren't here on Thursdays." He could see her patience running thin with every second. "Okay, I do need your help."

Tucker paused as if to gauge if he was going to say it or not. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment. "Here's the thing, I'm getting married—"

"What?"

"Please allow me to lay this out for you, first." He held up a hand. Sam chewed her lip and gave him a curt nod. "Thank you," He folded his hands and unfolded them. He drummed his fingers on his knee then cleared his throat. "Okay, one, I'm getting married as I mentioned. Two, you-know-who is my chosen best man, and my bride, she also wants him," He swallowed, "we need him as the best man." he watched as Sam's face scrunched up in annoyance, but she remained silent. Tucker could see her jaw was set.

"The problem though is that he does not want to be. He avoids us like the plague, and he disappeared."

Sam reached for her cup of coffee, taking a measured sip before answering him. She stared off the window and chewed the bottom of her lip, "Congratulations, I guess. My sympathies for the poor woman shackling herself to you though, and I don't know how to politely say this other than—" She turned her burning purple eyes on him, "so what?"

Tucker mentally groaned and imagined himself slumping back in the chair. This was way easier when he ran it through his head before going here. Outside, he took a breath and leveled Sam with his own eyes. "Has anyone told you that you have a bit of an attitude?"

"They did."

"And?"

"Those were their last words."

Tucker gulped. Leveling wouldn't work. Maybe this was the same reason that Tucker couldn't argue with Danny, he had that much power and confidence in him that Tucker would cower from. Sam here, on the other hand, mastered the art of sarcasm and had enough ammunition to grill anyone who dare cross her. What a power couple this two would be, if they could only see that.

Sam's eyes dug him more on the couch. Tucker sighed and dropped his tough-businessman façade. "Okay, we need Danny to attend the wedding, and before you tell us to send him an invitation or just outright tell him or text him, we did. Already. Okay? It's not like we didn't even try. We did. I did. In so many ways than what you're probably thinking right now." He shook his head. "Then I realize, how can I speak to someone who clearly doesn't want to talk to me? How can I find someone who doesn't want to be found?"

She watched him in disbelief. "Really? Then you have to think about what other, normal people would do!" Tucker waited. "You give up and find someone else who's responsible, sociable and most importantly, knows the value of what you need them to be."

"No!"

"Then you're doomed. Try waiting a couple more years to get married once he's mature enough to face you."

"Sam—"

"Tucker. Listen to me. If what you're about to say is what I think what's going in that loyally blind head of yours, then no. Hell, no."

Tucker threw his arms up in exasperation. "SAM! Hear me out first!"

"NO!"

"Sam, I'm begging you. We need _you_ to try and communicate with Danny, so he will realize that he deserves something good in this world. Please? Just send him a message or what. We're not asking you to declare any undying love for him or get together. I'm not even asking you to see him. Please?"

"You know what, I really _cannot_ understand, for the life of me, why you people keep on thinking I can change something here. This is Danny we are talking about. He does what he wants. He comes and goes. I do not have any magic hold on him!"

Sam's pulse was quickening, and her hands were itching to do something, for example, knock Tucker into oblivion.

Tucker knew this was going to happen. He was well-aware that making Sam do something she despised would merit at least the beginning of World War III though he was desperate. The wedding was in two weeks and Danny dropped the face off the earth after learning that he was the chosen best man of both bride and groom.

Tucker released a sigh, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes with one hand. He fished out its cleaning cloth from his pocket and wiped it clean. He put his glasses back and regarded Sam. She was a woman of strength and she would not back down from a fight. He had seen it with his own eyes. She was always ready to fight fire with a damn firenado if needed and she would not be begging for anything. Tucker also knew that Sam's loyalty to her friends would outlast a tank in a battle and he could use that as gunpowder. He was not a manipulator but ever since he became the CEO of his own software company, he had to roughen it up against wolves, sharks and any other business animal there was out there.

"Sam, I'm not asking you to move mountains for me. I know that we started on the wrong foot from high school and most times, I did not earn your trust or respect, but I appreciate what you have done for me and Danny back then. I value your honesty and your spunk. I would not be asking for a favor if I can do this myself, but I have really run out of options here." Sam's face was still set on stone. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling. "Can you at least let me tell you what went down?

She scoffed. "Fine, tell me what happened."

Tucker took a sip of his coffee. "Okay, after the big bang—"

"The what?"

He glared at her. "The big bang, when you and Danny broke—"

Sam held up a hand to stop him, her eye twitching. "We did not break up. We were not even together in the first place!" She clenched her fist and pointedly looked at the window, gritted her teeth, propped up her chin with her fist and pinned him again with that blazing gaze from the corner of her eye.

Tucker leaned back and crossed his legs. He, too, was staring to lose his patience. "Why don't we do it this way, I talk. You listen and you don't interrupt. At. All."

Sam nodded listlessly.

"Good. Thank you." That earned him another stink eye, but Tucker ignored it. "High School. We passed Lancer's stupid assignment. Valerie left. You were mad at everyone," Sam's eyes narrowed. "Fine, you were mad at us, Danny, especially. I honestly have no idea what had gone down between you two. He never said anything to me about it. He clamped up and shrank away from me, from his family. When we hit 18, Danny moved out. Honestly, I had a feeling he already had a place for himself even before then. I wouldn't put it past Danny's antics, he could get anything done if he put his mind to it. Anyway, he moved out and did not inform me about it until 3 months later. I wouldn't even have known if it wasn't for Jazz. She called me one day, asking if I've already checked Danny's place as he won't give them the address and he had not called or text in a week.

I was furious, but I waited to get the whole story first before I went bersek in hacking every camera in the street, malls or arcades to look for him. We did not call the police, he was already considered an adult, so it won't change anything."

Sam listened and kept a straight face. Although Tucker knew she would do anything not to know any of this, she refused to touch the subject, it did not escape his notice that she was directing her anger to _him_ because he was asking her a favor when they just saw each other again.

Tucker continued relating the rest of the story, the basic bits anyway. Danny kept to himself after what had gone down between him and Sam. He and Danny went to the same college, but he did not take up astronomy, contrary to what he had been dreaming since they were little. Danny eventually dropped out of college and disappeared, but kept sending them messages, texts, chats, saying he was fine, and he was just out exploring the world and living to the fullest.

Thrice a week messages, became once. Then became once a month. His family was worried, but they chucked it up to allowing Danny to find himself without the shadow of their ghost hunting, achievements and other lame excuse that convinced them this was normal behavior with a child so emotionally distant, he chose to be physically distant as well.

People change. People delve into varying fields, interests, relationships. Danny's decision to not be involved with their lives became normal until Tucker fell in love and decided to get married and wanted him to be there as his Best man. It took him a while to find Danny as there was no pattern on when he checked their messages, he even changed his number and was only in touch through email, his social media accounts hadn't been accessed in a long time. Tucker couldn't quite pinpoint where his location was as either Danny has gone from awkward kid to computer-whizz over the couple of years to hide his location whenever he contacts them digitally or he had really been to different places in a short span of time.

"What do you mean?"

Sam had been so quiet the entire time he was talking that Tucker forgot he was telling this to an actual person. He paused, "How would I explain it? You know with the magic of Lady GPS you can uncloak someone's real location and knew they are somewhere in Asia when their IP address initially shows they were just in New York? Then when you uncloak them again, they show as they're in Las Vegas?"

"Isn't that what most people do nowadays? Pretend that they're in someplace while actually just being inside their den or basement?"

"Yes, but Sam, I'm talking about my capabilities here. I cannot be fooled with some elementary hacking and cloaking. I'm referring to India at 4:05 in the afternoon and Nevada at 4:07! 2 minutes, Sam! 2 minutes!"

"Oh-kay, so what are you trying to say? Your best friend now owns a super stealth jet?"

Tucker shot her an exasperated look. "Really, Sam?"

She shrugged. "What do I know?" As soon as she said it, Sam was hit with ancient snippets of conversation too old she totally forgot about them until now. "You're not actually thinking that he was ripping portals into the fabric of the Earth, are you?"

"Exactly."

"B-but that's—"

"Crazy? Impossible? Man, he has been saving the world since he was 14 and undergoing puberty at the same time. Do you not believe him being capable of leaping through continents through shredding the Earth's dimensions?

"So, you're saying that he, he has been travelling the world when he told you guys that he was living life to the fullest?"

Tucker noticed that Sam had started to look actually rattled, good. She was interested, he inwardly cringed. He would have been guilty if he was lying about Danny, he almost wished he was because the alternative, the truth was, he wasn't, which was scary. Although things were to become more terrifying.

He folded his hands and stared Sam in the eye. "I think Danny has been living in the Ghost Zone for the last few years."

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

A/N: Hello again! I just want to say thank you for reading, reviewing, following and hitting that favorite button!

Thanks for all your support. We're now on Chapter 2! Yay!

Are the chapters too short?

Any comments, opinions, reactions? Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I think Danny has been living in the Ghost Zone for the last few years."

Sam froze. It took her a while to recover, to find her brain and tongue. "T-that's…" She tried desperately to find an appropriate word, but her brain was still trying to remember how to work, "…not good."

She mentally kicked herself. How articulate. She didn't care. After all that he put her through, she wasn't supposed to care anymore. She had run over this possibility on her mind a dozen times before, of course, she was bound to encounter her past – Danny, Tucker, and their families, at one point in her life. This was a small world and karma just had a way of biting her back in the rear in the least expected turn of events. She just didn't expect this to happen too soon. She was holding out hope that maybe it would happen some time when she was either happily married with someone and have kids, or when she had become successful to the point, he was just a mere bug on the road.

Although, living on the Ghost Zone? That was … extreme, even for Danny. She wanted to bombard Tucker with hundreds of questions, like, what the heck was Danny thinking? What the heck were his family and best friend doing that they were not even bothered or curious to see where he had been going to all these years? Didn't they even ask for a photo or new friends? Anything?

"How could _you_ let this happen? I thought he's your best friend? Didn't anyone think, 'Hey, where's my kid? Do you think he's enjoying New York? Is he even in the States? He hasn't gotten in touch, could he be in _jail_?"

Tucker flinched and hung his head in shame. "There were so many things going on, we got distracted. We didn't think that he wanted to be found."

"Who's _we_?"

If Tucker felt awkward before, he definitely looked like ready to bolt with this question. He stared at the purple carpet, his cheeks turned pink.

The urge to strangle him hadn't completely left Sam and she had a good notion that Tucker was referring to his lady love that he forgot about Danny. She couldn't entirely blame him if she was right and the person of interest, in this case, Danny Fenton, did not want to be found. She couldn't agree more. If Danny pissed them off and hurt them enough to last three afterlives, then she wouldn't be in a hurry to go look for him as well. She could just allow Tucker to get on with his life, after all, he was entitled to have his personal matters sorted out, he wasn't responsible for Danny.

Danny was responsible for himself. Just as Sam was ready to let Tucker off the hook, he cleared his throat and met her eyes. "I felt that I also have my own life. That I have to take care of myself and look after the people I care about, taking care of Danny has played a big role in my life but, I just got to do something for myself, you know?" He closed and opened his fist. "Without him, I felt that I had the time to do what I really want and to pursue my own goals. I'd say I'm sorry as that has come off too self-centered, but it is what it is, and I may have abandoned him in his darkest times," he hesitated. "I'd hate myself for that for a long time, maybe for the rest of my life but I don't regret what has happened when he wasn't around. I don't regret my choices and the person I chose over my best friend."

"I'm not sorry that I fell in love and chose to take care of someone else, Sam."

Sam was quiet for a long time. She hadn't had someone be so raw and open to her before. Not in a quite few months, years, even. She couldn't fault that. If she'd go back in time when they were in high school and somebody would tell her that Tucker would leave Danny to his own decision because he had grown a spine and brain, she'd never believed them.

It takes courage to step out of one's comfort zone, but it was a whole new level to stand by those decisions and face the consequences. Maybe Tucker was on to something here. Wasn't it the same thing she has done? Get on with her life and not look back.

Sam was about to delve further when she realized something doesn't add up. "When did you say you told him you're getting married?"

"Two weeks ago."

Sam's frown deepened. "And how long have you been suspecting about his chosen abode?"

Tucker wanted to snort over her word choice. "To be honest, I've had suspicions ever since his contacts became sparse, but I didn't dare dig any further. I was caught up between respecting his decision and letting him get what he thinks he deserves without anyone telling him what to do."

"That doesn't answer the question."

If Sam had powers, Tucker felt he would've been a literal toast by now. "Fine, I'm not sure but like I've said I had my theories from the last couple of years. Maybe four, five? Again, I'm not sure but I never tested those said theories because… well, I think I'm also afraid to know. Anyway, I checked up on him as soon as we broke the news, I mean his family has known way before him and they are just waiting for me to be the one to lay it on the floor. I was worried after we told him. Call me paranoid but I had a gut feeling he will just disappear like he had all those years, so I started digging."

"Wait, let me put a timeline here. You've suspected that he's in the Ghost Zone from the last four, five-ish years but you did not bother to actually look there? Then you told him, 'Hey Ghost Boy, I'm getting married and even though you've been such a pain in the ass, you're still the best man. Wedding's in 2 weeks. It's a formal event so better pick up a suit. Don't be fucking late, 'kay?"

Tucker closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand down his face. "Lord almighty, karma, Zeus, _anyone_ up there, I know I haven't been person of the year, but I didn't realize that I've sinned this much. I promise to try and be better. Please, plea—"

Sam exhaled loudly. "Tucker. You are not impressing me with your prayers."

Eyes still closed, he took a deep breath and mumbled, "Oh God, she is a nightmare."

"_She_ can hear you, you know."

Tucker opened his eyes and looked up. "You shouldn't be a store manager, Sam. You belong in the court.

"You shouldn't be using God or other deities' names when you're in distress. You might get sued for blasphemy."

"OKAY, Sam! Fine! You win! What do you want to know? What do you want me to tell you?"

Sam pursued her lips; she didn't mean to be so testy. She was just riled up about the matter she also wanted Tucker to suffer but she couldn't also help mentally jumping up and down. "I just want to know whether you, meeting me on a random night was just random and if this thing about the wedding and Danny being in the Ghost Zone isn't just another ploy to get me to do your bidding again. I've fallen into your manipulations before, what makes this different? What's the catch?"

Tucker let out a nervous laugh. "Why does there need to be a catch? I'm just a man, wanting to have his childhood best friend back for the happiest day in my life. I just want to gather all the important people on my, and my future wife's most important day and celebrate. Is that too much to ask?"

Sam stared at him for a long time he started to doubt his own words. Then she blinked. "I believe you."

Relief washed over Tucker. He felt his heart rate started to slow down and he didn't realize that the Earth felt as if it, too, was holding its breath.

"I still have a few questions, though."

He inwardly screamed. This was going to be a long night. He better text his fiancée that he will be working all through the night. He might as well start now; cooperating had proven to be effective in dealing with Sam. Well, to be honest, she was the one dealing with him now and she can easily turn the tables on him. He sighed. Here goes nothing.

"Alright, I told Danny 2 weeks ago. Sent him initially a cryptic message so he would come out from whatever cave he was hiding from. He obviously wasn't very pleased about the news. He said he doesn't want to, he doesn't deserve it and scrambled out of our place. I tried to go after him, but his powers are like knee-jerk reactions now. He's gone before I was even fully out of the door.

I did what I can do best. Used all my digital resources. Backtrack his previous messages, tried to trace for a pattern, that's when I noticed he has been changing sites every time that he will send a message. Not just street or states. Countries. Continent, Sam. It was outrageous!"

Sam's brows scrunched. "You never stop to think maybe it was just a trick?"

"No. You probably don't believe me or my technology-prowess but please, listen to me. I think Danny has stuck himself since that afternoon you and he decided to call it quits. He shut himself completely. He had gotten these defenses so strong, I could no longer break through them."

"Again, Tucker. What makes you think _I_ can slip through those defenses. He chose to stop talking to me, remember?"

"Because you did it before, and no, you know that something clicked between the two of you. Something inexplicable and that's what we need right now, an inexplicable connection to get under his skin, to get through his stupid head that we need him."

"I don't need him."

Tucker closed his eyes in frustration for the second time and put his head in his hands. He inhaled and when he glanced back at her, his face determined. "What will it take for you to do this?"

Sam blinked. This wasn't what she was expecting. "I don't need anything, Tucker. I don't depend on anyone and you know, this isn't remotely near to needing something such as monetary. I just don't have a reason to do anything related to him."

"Look, how about you help me with this, and I'll return the favor, it doesn't have to be now. Sort of banked favor that can be used in the future. Call in anytime and anywhere."

Again, Sam did not really need anything. Granted, she could take up his initial offer of rigging her shop with security but that's too light for the exchange. Also, she was beginning to tire of her everyday routine and had been looking for some excitement, something that did not happen normally. Maybe this was the kind of stirring that she didn't knew she needed. On the other hand, the idea of being able to pull in a favor from him in the future seemed to entice her.

"Okay, you got me. Because of that favor thing and just so you know, I'm doing this because you asked, not because I care about him," she took a deep breath, "So, what do you need me to do?"

Sam could've sworn she saw a hint of smile grazed Tucker's lips.

"Okay, here's the plan."

* * *

_4:21pm_

_To: wanderingghostboy _

_Hi,_

_I know this may have come off as a surprise. Believe me, I wouldn't have imagined doing this as well, but you know, some people could be pretty persistent, and some people could be so damn bored. Uh, we're going off topic. Anyway, how are you? Uh… stupid question, you don't have to answer. I know you hate me but here's the thing… _

_(Deleted)_

_4:30pm_

_To: wanderingghostboy _

_Hello Danny,_

_It's Sam. I'm not sure if you still remember me but I'm just doing a friend a favor. (Well, I'm not sure if I can call him that) I'll be honest. This isn't something that I'd have done on my own so yeah, Tucker asked me to contact you, said he's getting married and he really wants you to be the Best Man (I know, beats me why, but the guy is so persistent, he even went to my job late at night and harassed one of my colleagues! I should've called the police!)_

_Okay, we're veering off topic again. So yeah, wedding's in 13 days, can you please tell Tucker that you'll go and actually go? Please? Just to get him off my back. I don't want him bothering me in the middle of the night and, did you know he actually threatened Frank? _

_(Deleted)_

_4:40pm_

_To: wanderingghostboy _

_Hey Fenton,_

_It's Sam. Don't know if you remember me or not. Don't care anyway. So, this isn't something that I would come up on my own, I'm not that creative or desperate, but here's the thing, remember Tucker? Yeah, that weird, techno-geek always attached to your hip back in high school? He's getting married. Don't ask me the how's or why's. I have zero idea but he's still the same sentimental, perpetually loyal best friend that you know, and he wants you to be there on his wedding day, as his Best Man. He said he tried his 200% in trying to get you to do this thing, but you avoid him like the plague (guess that's your talent, aside from pissing people off) and he ran out of ideas, except, well, then he thought of me._

_Beats me why I come into this, but he thinks I can change your mind. So, just go, okay?_

Sam's finger hovered the mouse pointer over the word Send. She was running out of words and running out of time. Tucker asked her to send an email last night and the day was almost over, but she still hadn't been able to compose one.

She released the mouse and groaned. She stood up and walked around her quaint little shop. The afternoon was quiet and most of her customers were teenagers spending their summer wisely, reading a book.

Tucker hadn't thankfully gone back to her shop, but he did make her inbox explode. She hadn't decided yet about his offer to equip her shop. She doesn't want to make him feel that he made an impact to her life. She just wanted to get this over with. She closed her eyes. Thirteen days. Thirteen days and everything would go back to normal.

She reopened her eyes and went back to her computer. She didn't need to stress over this. Just send an email, Sam, Tucker said, he didn't ask her to send a hate mail or fan mail. She could just treat this as any other business email that she sent. Sam sat down and typed as fast as she could.

While writing the email of her life, she vaguely heard the chimes jingled, signaling a new customer's arrival. She didn't look up to give them time to browse over and besides, she had her crew to assist anyway. She was just manning the counter.

Sam continued to tap away, she hadn't felt the presence until someone cleared their throat and she stopped to look up.

She was hit with a dizzying jolt of familiarity. She forgot how to breathe. Standing right in front of her was a tall man with long black hair and the most beautiful crystal blue eyes she ever laid eyes on. He was staring at her and she didn't know her insides could jumble itself into a racket. Her heart lurched and her stomach dropped. Those intense eyes breaking down her walls.

Those same eyes lingered on her face, taking in her features. A ghost of a smile played in the corner of his lips. Sam was starting to feel her lips stretched as well. Was she dreaming?

"I believe this is the part where you say, 'Hi, how can I help you?"

His voice was deeper and has a silky feeling to it. Nope, not dreaming. Danny Fenton. Danny Fenton standing in her shop. Danny freaking Fenton standing in her shop in the middle of a lazy afternoon. Danny, oh what the fuck, Sam glanced back to her computer, her incomplete, un-sent email staring back at her. She looked back at him still waiting for her to say something. Say something!

"Uh, what are you doing here?"

Suddenly, the spark of excitement from his eyes dimmed. His pale lips thinned. Sam wanted to smack herself right in the face for asking such thing. His eyes turned into slits. "You know what, that's a great question. What am I doing here? I keep asking myself the same thing and what I can only say is, this is not my idea."

Her eyes narrowed. She was beginning to get a bad feeling. "What do you mean?"

Danny tilted his head and the tips of his long locks brushed against his shoulders. "Can we talk somewhere … er more private?" He switched his weight to his other leg and Sam started to look around, her staff was watching the whole exchange with curious eyes. The customers milling around also stopped to check what was going on. She didn't realize they were gaining too much attention. She forgot that they weren't alone. "I mean, if you're not busy." He pointedly glanced down to her computer and Sam scrambled to exit the email application.

"N-no, I was just…" She started to clean the counter of invisible clutter. "Uhm, talk. Private. Yeah." She scratched her head. "Wait," she locked her computer and exited through the side, she briefly scanned the room until she saw what, or who she was looking for. A blond guy with a chiseled jaw and sharp nose, already watching her. "Chris," the guy strode up to her and within a few seconds he was between them, strategically putting his body between Sam and Danny.

"Yes, Sam. Is there a problem?" The guy, Chris, squared his shoulders and checked Danny out from the corner of his eye. Danny kept a poker face, but he got the sudden urge to flick the guy away. He was about six feet tall and this guy just stood a few inches shorter from him.

"No, everything's fine. I just need you to man the cashier, I'm just going to take my break."

The guy, Chris, didn't budge. Sam noticed her employee's reluctance and she paused to take a good look at him. He stared at her, his pale blue eyes conveying something. "You, okay, Sam? Are you hungry? We can order pizza, pepperoni, or Hawaiian with lots of pineapples, you know?"

So, that was what he was saying. Sam's eyes softened. Ordering pizza and mentioning pepperoni was their code for emergency, pineapples is code for police, and if Sam need one of her employees to call the authorities without alerting everyone of any possible danger. She had trained and treated her employees well she started to think she doesn't deserve them.

"She's vegan." An annoyed voice broke their bubble and both Sam and Chris turned to Danny.

"Excuse me?" Chris, her ever supportive employee slash friendly, self-proclaimed bodyguard gave Danny another once-over. Following her employee's survey of the person in front of them, she realized that he was only looking out for her. If she didn't recognize Danny immediately, she would've thought he was a homeless man lost in her store. His ebony hair was unkempt, and it seemed as if it hasn't met the water in so many years, his pants were the color of jeans dyed in soil and sprinkled with dust, and his gray shirt turning to brownish yellow with smears of green paint.

Sam also didn't realize that there was a pungent smell coming off him. Chris wrinkled his nose in obvious disgust. Danny either didn't notice or didn't care.

"You don't need to order pizza or ask for Pepperoni. She's vegan." Danny narrowed his eyes at Chris as if he might not understand what he was about to say. "Ultra. Recyclo. Vegetarian."

Then he leaned his elbow on the counter to size him up in return. He didn't say anything else, but he made it clear that he knew what they were up to.

Sam stepped in and put a hand to Chris's arm, if she and Danny were gaining attention a while ago, Danny and Chris now had the whole room watching. "It's okay, Chris. He's someone from my high school. I know him. Thanks. Appreciate your help but we just need to talk."

"You didn't say _friend_, Sam." Chris retorted while his pale blue eyes still locked with Danny's, unblinking.

Sam sighed. Men. Boys. Male purple-back gorillas and their testosterone-filled egos. Nothing new. "Guys, just drop—"

"No, she didn't," Danny smirked, and Sam knew it was going to get worse. "We have history." The faces of her employees registered shock, even Sam's regular customers started to whisper to themselves. The owner of Skulk 'N Lurk had always been friendly and kind to them but she kept her personal affairs locked. Her employees never heard of any past lovers and whenever they asked, Sam would brush them off with a joke or change the subject. She was just elusive.

Danny savored every bit of shock he witnessed from Chris's face and he couldn't be more satisfied. Unless he could taunt him more. Sam knew he was beginning to devote all his energy to this exchange, and it had to stop.

Sam pasted a bright smile on her face and clapped her hand loudly, "Okay! People have places to be and things to do. Let's not delay anyone. You," She cut eyes to Chris, "cashier", she then turned her dagger eyes to Danny and pointed a finger to a door at the back that he did not notice earlier, "You, my office. Now."

Both men complied without another word.

* * *

"Close the door." Danny followed Sam in a tiny, lavender-painted room. There was another computer set up on top of a mahogany table. A metal filing cabinet on the left and shelves, stacks and boxes filled with books took up most of the space.

A black leather loveseat and a coffee table in the middle and a window to the far right. Sam sat on the swivel chair behind the sturdy desk. She waved for him to do the same.

Danny hesitated. He was suddenly self-conscious. He didn't mind strutting like a beggar and oozing with tangy odor if he was fighting ghosts or driving away filthy-mannered humans like that guy out there but in Sam's clean office with a fresh-looking Sam, he wanted to disappear.

She didn't seem to notice his dilemma and Danny quickly realized that he wasn't here to impress anyone. He plopped himself on the loveseat and struggled to find a comfortable position. It was too soft for him and it felt too small to fit for his frame. Sam did not bother to pretend cleaning up. She stared off the window with a faraway look in her eyes.

Danny waited. Sam continued to gaze out the window for a few more minutes. The air grew heavier. He watched her and she ignored him. Danny slowly caught on that it was a test and he almost smiled. This woman ain't going to win anything with him. He could stay immobile for days, if he wanted to. He could make anyone, anything flinched under his stare.

Danny started to feel a stirring in his gut. He could've sworn he heard something clicked.

Let the games begin.

Sam finally turned to him and looked him square in the eye. "No, Danny."

He choked. "Excuse me?"

Sam burned him in place with her amethyst eyes. "I'm not going to play this again with you. Listen well, and listen carefully, I'm not going to let you bully me into agreeing with you and Tucker's shenanigans ever again."

She watched as he opened his mouth and closed it, unable to form words. She could see the indignation in his eyes, he appeared to start berating her, but he kept his mouth shut. The fire in his eyes smoldered. "I see."

"Do you? Really?"

Danny stood up and turned to the door. With his back to her, he uttered, "Have a good life, Sam."

It felt like a hard slap to the face and Sam couldn't quite believe that her eyes watered, and her heart sank. She couldn't move. She just sat there waiting for Danny to look back and say something, but he didn't. He continued his way to the door and his hand grab the knob, he was just twisting it when the temperature in the room dropped and she glimpsed a blue wisp of smoke escaped his lips. His shoulders went rigid, he whipped quickly, transforming to his ghost half midway.

Sam's eyes went wide as the two white rings separated leaving Danny Phantom in place with blazing neon green eyes searching for the unwelcomed ghost. She was stuck in place while his expression turned to horror at something, someone behind her. Goosebumps ran down her arms and a tingle shot through her spine. "Saam!" was the last thing she heard, and everything went black.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

A/N: Hello everyone! I would like to thank you for your continued support, especially to the following: _Guest, Thedarkgirl1121, Frankie'N, and Ghostgothgeek, also to The Literary Lord, zzdarkrosezz, CreativeMind2012, ModernDayAlice and Strangely Normal. You guys are awesome!_

Is the pacing too slow? Are there any discrepancies that you've noticed?

I'd love to hear more from you. Please R&R. Thanks!

~T. E.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Danny stood up and turned to the door. With his back to her, he uttered, "Have a good life, Sam."_

_It felt like a hard slap to the face and Sam couldn't quite believe that her eyes watered, and her heart sank. She couldn't move. She just sat there waiting for Danny to look back and say something, but he didn't. He continued his way to the door and his hand grabbed the knob, he was just twisting it when the temperature in the room dropped and she glimpsed a blue wisp of smoke escaped his lips. His shoulders went rigid, he whipped quickly, transforming to his ghost half midway._

_Sam's eyes went wide as the two white rings separated leaving Danny Phantom in place with blazing neon green eyes searching for the unwelcomed ghost. She was stuck in place while his expression turned to horror at something, someone behind her. Goosebumps ran down her arms and a tingle shot through her spine. "Saam!" was the last thing she heard, and everything went black._

* * *

Danny hovered in the air and prepared to launch himself to the horrid ghost who held a limp Sam in its clutches. He wanted to strangle this ghost's neck.

"I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you." He gritted his teeth.

"Let her go!"

"Already? Aren't you curious what happened to her?" Vlad Plasmius hiked an unconscious Sam higher in his arms then he flipped her body over to his shoulder. Danny inched closer to them.

"Nuh- uh -uh, be careful, Daniel, your heart is showing. One might think you care about this woman."

Danny's eyes glinted and he spoke in the same taunting tone that Vlad used, "Nuh -uh - uh, looks like someone's outdated. One might think you're getting older, Vlad. I'm sure you wouldn't want us to know about your struggles lately, huh."

Vlad's dark eyes turned to slits. Danny smirked instead of saying, 'ooh, I hit a nerve', he learned to eventually lessen his quips as the years go by and instead let his powers and expressions do the talking. He found out that Vlad couldn't get more out of him if he didn't open his mouth too much.

He lowered himself until his boots touched Sam's floor. As much as he wanted to pound Vlad's stupid face, he wouldn't want to wreak Sam's little haven. If diplomacy could save as much damage in this encounter, he would go for that. "Alright, Uncle Vlad. You caught me. What is it you want this time? Joint invasion of the world? Clone Danny's ass? Or dinner with my mom, again?" He shrugged his shoulders and put both hands on his hips.

Vlad looked taken aback, he didn't speculate for Danny to be so _off character_. He was expecting a bit of fight, banter, force and generally an emotion-powered reaction. This was somewhat a logical approach and he didn't know what to do _but_ Danny had no idea just how much confusion this had brought him, and he never came into battle with just a Plan A. It was time to move on to Plan B. He would just improvise.

"Oh, Daniel. You think you're so smart just because you've been staying in the Ghost Zone." A flash of surprise crossed Danny's face. Vlad gave him a toothy smile. "What, you think I didn't know? You think you've escaped me, or that you've stopped endangering everyone around you just because you've isolated yourself? Think again, little badger."

Danny didn't say anything, and he continued to glare at Vlad. He refused to be baited. If there was one thing he learned from staying away all these years, it was that whoever and whatever tried to bother him, if he didn't give them any reaction, they would eventually tire and leave him alone. He had trained himself to stop feeling things. He was a ghost and he had fully accepted that. He wasn't normal and he was never ever going to be one again. He just capped that fact and took off then boom, the world had been a better place.

Vlad lifted a brow. "Hmm, Daniel, looks like Frostbite's silence has been rubbing off on you. Did he also teach you how you can freeze off your emotions?" Danny's face did not give away anything, but he could see that his neon green eyes were starting to glow brighter. "I've always known that he is not up to par. You see, with your potential and power, you'd need an even better teacher, and who would be more suited to that role other than the original halfa in the world?"

Green rays shot to Vlad's foot and he casually flew higher. "Ha! Your aim is just like your buffoon of a father!"

Danny frowned and a ghost energy net barged from Vlad's right. He quickly made himself intangible and the net went right through him to the other side of the room. "What, are you trying to fish me in the air?"

Still saying nothing, Danny shrugged one shoulder and fired another ecto-ray directly to Vlad. He flicked it with his hand, he was about to comment how lame Danny's efforts were but when he looked back, Danny disappeared from where he was floating. Distracted, his eyes scanned the room when he suddenly felt the temperature dropped and sky-rocketed at the same time.

Danny materialized right in front of Vlad's face with a devilish smirk and he followed it with a punch that sent the older halfa backwards.

Vlad's body threw with the impact and he would've hit the wall if it wasn't for the fist that clamped him from the back. A bit dazed from what had happened, he caught from his peripheral vision, the same sly grin glimmering from Daniel's face.

The sound of clothes ripping rang in the air and was followed by the piercing of something squishy. Vlad realized a tad late that it was his own flesh that erupted in a split second as the foolish halfa kid drove a knife in his back. The sharp point efficiently lodged just a few centimeters between his spine and his heart.

Blinding pain shot up through his body, intense cold held him in place, white danced in his vision and his bone became brittle. He vaguely realized that he was no longer holding Samantha as hostage as she fell from his grasp. Vlad watched her body fell and he wanted to tell Daniel that he forgot something. He distantly feared for the impending thud of her skull, but it never came.

His eyes flashed and saw that she was caught by the ghost net, hovering just to his left. His gaze flew back to Daniel and realized that he had just been played.

Two Danny Phantoms now observed him with mirth. The one in the front had his fists up and the one holding him from the back crushed his shoulder, Vlad chuckled. "Well, well, well, what do you know, you did learn something from me." He wanted to gloat further, but his throat clogged, and ectoplasm tinged with blood spurted from his mouth. He gasped and felt the tip of the damn knife pushed itself further inside. He froze. Even though fast healing came naturally to half ghosts, he still worried that it might not work if his heart was damaged in the slightest bit.

"If I were you, I'd save my words for important things. So, tell me, _Uncle Vladdy, _what did you do to Sam?"

Despite the paralyzing agony gnawing his body and the feeling of ice creeping into his veins, Vlad managed to grin. Green and red liquid dripped from his fangs as he gritted his words out. "Y-you. may t-think. You have. W-won this round with. Me i-immobilized but y-you", he fought for air which was unusual since he was already a half-ghost, "A-are still. Powerless over … things. And p-people you can n-never. Protect." He struggled for more air and choked. Why was he struggling to breathe? Why was he in such excruciating pain? Vlad steeled his nerves and strove to deliver his words. It was a large feat, but he managed. "H-how does it feel Daniel? Is the dreading pit in your stomach widening and eating you now from inside out?"

Danny Number Two from the back drove the dagger deeper and Vlad arched in pain. "I said, make your words count. You have no idea what I stabbed you with now, don't you?" Vlad could not answer even if he wanted to. It turned out that taunting Daniel and not thinking of searing pain was too gigantic of a task for him. Satisfied with his silence, Danny continued, "Ever heard of the ghostly icicle? Hmm, no? Let's just say other than being a halfa kebab, its poisoning your nerves with ice so cold it feels like fire, slowly freezing everything in your body until it feels all papery thin and then it rips it molecule by molecule."

Ghostly icicle, Ha! As if such legend exists! Vlad wanted to crush Daniel's belief in mythic objects however he was too busy trying not to be too overwhelmed by the blazing ice gripping his nerves. Somehow, being impaled with this thing, Vlad was inclined to believe Daniel was telling the truth as he could almost hear his nervous system melting down.

"So, are you ready to confess your nefarious plans, Uncle Vladdy? Or should I continue to drive this in and see it through from the other side?" The threat and malice in Daniel's voice transported Vlad to the day that a fourteen-year old Daniel defeated the Ghost King and put him back to slumber. He shuddered to wonder what else he had learned over the years and the extent that his powers grew. He might as well give the boy what he wanted to hear.

Throat almost dry, he struggled to respond. "N-no…" Danny twisted the icicle and Vlad growled in pain.

"Sorry, what was that?" The cursed thing wrenched again and serrated his insides further. Vlad felt blood leaking in places it wasn't supposed to go to.

"N-no…"

"Sorry? Can't hear you with all the ice squirming and blood dripping out." Danny drove the icicle and savored every ragged, helpless breath Vlad took. This was getting more out of hand and painful than he thought.

He tried again. "N… Noc, Nocturne" Vlad rasped, and Danny pulled out the icicle from his back. Vlad fell to the floor in a heap of green ectoplasm and red. Danny pulled him back up by the collar of his shirt, gritting in anger. "What. Did. You. Do. To. Her."

Vlad let out a dark chuckle that turned into a coughing fit but the malicious smile and evil glint in his eyes never left. "Y-you can't save her this time, b-boy." He then raised a shaking hand, opened it and it revealed an empty syringe with remnants of some black, glittery liquid.

The Danny in front of him rushed to Sam's side and tried to shake her awake. She was breathing but she wasn't responding. He checked her eyelids and instead of her amethyst orbs, the same glittering ebony covered her irises and slowly spread to the fullness of her eyeballs. "Sam! Wake up!"

The loss of the icicle from Vlad's back, instantly alleviated the poison crushing him from the inside. He was still weak, but it didn't stop him from speaking. "I'm afraid her consciousness has started to vanish into dreamland. She won't be able to hear or feel anything that you do to her body. In short, she is slipping to ghostly coma."

Danny carefully laid Sam back on the net and slowly stood up. When he faced Vlad, his eyes were blazing yellow. "You will pay for this, Plasmius."

"Yeah, but you see, Daniel, the difference between us is that I knew what I was getting into before this has even started. You, not so much. You can torture and kill me now but that won't erase the fact that you still need me alive. Because I'm the only one who knows what this is."

The next thing Vlad knew, Danny's fists were coming at him from all sides. He heard the crack of his jaws and his ribs and his vision tinged red. He tried to block him but Danny number 2 stayed rooted on the spot and locked both his arms. He thought about kicking but his legs were frozen in place. Every hit was solid, and every punch rattled him to his core, but Vlad continued to smile through the pain. He tried to laugh even when all came out was a choke and a cough.

After a few minutes of being Danny's punching bag, he stopped to admire his work. Vlad's suit was torn in various places, and ectoplasm leaked from everywhere, his body bent inward in an angle that it shouldn't be. His face marred by bruises and cuts. His right eye was shut tight and his lip split open, but the ghost still had the gall to watch him with his half-shut eye with a glimmer of satisfaction as if he was the one getting ripped to shreds with punches.

There was loud knock from the door, followed by the twisting of the knob. "Sam! Sam! What's going on? Are you okay?" The knobs twisted and turned but the door wouldn't budge. Neither Danny nor Sam locked it when they first came in and a glance from Vlad told Danny that he had something to do with that.

"Cavalry's here, Daniel. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock."

Danny swung back to Vlad but before he could land the blow, he felt the prickle on his neck and his eyes widened to another Vlad by his left holding a second syringe with the last of that black shimmering liquid fast draining down to his jugular. Danny fired multiple ecto rays to both Vlads but it didn't reach them and melted half way. He felt the world spin and the last thing he saw from the corner of his eyes was Sam's limp form in the corner. "N-no…" And everything went black.

* * *

Danny opened his eyes and felt himself floating. He looked down and saw his black jumpsuit. He righted himself and darted his eyes around. He was in the Ghost Zone, that he was sure. He didn't remember how he got there, and he tried to remember what had last happened. Everything felt hazy. He wasn't surprised that he was in the Zone, after all, this was where he had been staying. He rarely fell asleep here, it was more like of a zoning out period where past events of his life flashed or fantasies played.

If anything, it felt like swimming in the Greek Mythologic Styx river, seeing your dreams crumble down and your memories falter until you were nothing, but a wisp of smoke weighted down by depression or obsession.

Danny felt a jolt of something important that had happened, but he couldn't quite pull up his memories. It was like catching water with his hand, it kept slipping from his fingers. Something in his gut told him that something urgent must be done but he had no idea what and where to start.

His mind came up with a blank, solid wall. _What? What? What?_ He groaned in frustration. _What happened? When… wait, who? Who? Sam! _A jolt of pain hit his temple and he doubled over. Flashes of Sam looking up at him, leading him to a room, staring at him in fear, then unconscious in a corner. He gasped. Sam! How did he know what she now looked like? He hadn't seen her in years, and he didn't believe his imagination and ghostly obsession could be that sharp and detailed. He had to know something. Somebody had to know what has happened. Someb— Clockwork!

His body went on autopilot, preparing to travel to Clockwork's lair. Wait. Danny suddenly sensed that he was not alone on this place. There was a heavy presence that made his body weary. He felt the lull of atmosphere and he yawned. It was as if a voice was commanding him. S_leep. Sleep. Go back to sleep. Sleep now! NOW!_

Hmm… Wait a second, there was a voice commanding him!

Danny shook his head awake. The sleep dragging him to the unknown now felt alive and its tentacles tried to haul him deeper into the darkness, but he knew better. This presence. It was familiar but he couldn't place it. This was… this wasn't real. This was just made by some, another ghost. Ghost! Not the usual ones, the ones whose powers were tied to bigger, intangible things…

Damn it! His brain couldn't function well. His thoughts felt like vapor, if he wouldn't put effort to it, everything felt that it would be whisked away. What was he thinking about again? It seemed like he was on the precipice of something big. Like fitting the last bit of the jigsaw puzzle but not quite finding the right angle.

"Nocturne!" Danny woke up screaming. He clenched his fist and shot in the air. He was ready to peel Nocturnes ghostly layers and freeze him to eternity. He would smash him into bits until he became Nocturne's personal version of a nightmare.

"Danny! Danny! Danny, stop!"

That voice. He looked down and saw Tucker with his arms up and he noticed Sam lying on a couch. "Wha—"

"Calm down, okay? Get down here. Literally. I didn't do anything to her. I will explain, just please hear me out first."

Danny was struck speechless. Everything still appeared surreal, his earlier breakthrough was nothing compared to what he was seeing next. Tucker, his best friend, looked like he was ready to bolt but he was holding his ground. There was an air of caution and distrust around him. Danny blinked. Tucker was almost a brother to him, yet he was staring at Danny as if he was seeing a dog that had just bitten someone, wary of the pending rabies to hit. For some reason, Danny felt embarrassed and he floated down. He didn't say anything, but his eyes widened at the sight of an unconscious Sam in Tucker's arms.

Tucker wanted to berate Danny but rolled his eyes in an attempt to placate him instead while keeping a hand on Sam's sleeping head. "Yes, yes, Danny. It's me, no need to panic. This is the real world. Thank you for coming back." He rolled his green eyes again. "Can we now get to the matter at hand?"

Two loud raps interrupted them, and Danny slowly came to his senses that they were still inside Sam's office. Everything that had happened flooded back to him. The banging and the angry voice sounded exactly the same irritating voice he heard right before his fight with Vlad got interrupted and he knew that voice wouldn't rest until Sam would come out.

"Right, I almost forgot. Sam's employees are such pains. Before we go over this, I need you to overshadow those people outside so we can clear a path and take Sam somewhere safe and private. We can't stay here.

"How did you get in?"

"What?"

"How did you—that door was locked before… how long have you been here? Are you involved in this?"

"Really, Fenton? Your best friend comes and rescues your dumb ass and you're going to question his involvement?"

Danny wanted to reason out, he wanted to interrogate him and demand where the hell Vlad had gone after giving both him and Sam a drug that came from Nocturne. He wanted to know how Tucker found out and how in the world, he got through to a locked door when as far as he could remember, Sam's employees were banging it down since his fight with Vlad. Did Tucker find a different entry? Where? How long was he out that Tucker managed to get in?

"Danny."

Tucker was still observing him like he was expecting Danny to do something crazy. He wasn't wrong of course, but Danny decided to keep his mouth shut. Tucker had a point, he needed to get rid of all these other people before he could deal with the real matter at hand. Danny turned to the door and phased out.

A few minutes later, he passed through the wall and walked toward the corner where he last left Sam. Tucker hadn't moved and he was watching her with worry in his eyes. Danny stopped beside the table and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He gripped the edge of the table and struggled to keep himself upright.

"You okay?"

Danny's vision muddled again, and it took him a second before he was able to answer Tucker. "Y-yeah…"

Tucker shook his head and turned back to Sam. "We need to get her out of here."

"We're not taking her to a hospital, who knows what Vlad injected to her. I-I need to think." Danny put a hand to his head, he was starting to get a really bad headache. He saw from the corner of his eye Tucker stood up and carried Sam in his arms. Something pinched in his chest and he watched helplessly as Tucker went to the door.

"T- Tuck… wait…" The headache became a jackhammer to his temples. Danny took a step forward and the ground rose to slap him.

If Danny was awake, he would've heard Tucker on the phone, "Yeah, he's out again. We'll be on our way over. Prepare everything."

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

A/N: Hi there! Thanks for reading, reviewing and for hitting the favorite, follow button down there. I also want to thank the following: _Guest, Thedarkgirl1121, Frankie'N, and Ghostgothgeek, , _and of course, _Sam Manson Repilica. Thanks also goes to: __zzdarkrosezz, ectoheart, Umbra Scriba 2015, Thouqhts-of-Nothinqness, The Literary Lord, It's-it, hotammy38, Strangely Normal, RCabajes, ModernDayAlice, CreativeMind2012. _

Thank you all for your continued support.

I'd like to have a consistent update schedule however real life takes away so much time. I'm trying to bank in on the chapters before posting them so that the writing trail isn't left cold or anything, and I'm hoping that I can update more frequently if I've got a lot of ready-made chapters.

Also, I just came across Butch Hartman's youtube channel and I've just seen his latest drawings for DP: 10 years later and College Years. I learned that it sort of trended online back when it was first released. I'm kind of out dated but I'm still very happy that the creator himself is still interested in the show and has given us some insights about , ah, the possibilities.

Anyway, just some of my thoughts. Thanks you for taking the time to read through. Hope to know more of your thoughts. Please R&R.

~T.E


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello amazing readers! Yes, that's you. I know author's notes at the beginning kind of ruins the mood for the story for some people but this is kind of important.

First, as always, I do not own Danny Phantom. Second, this chapter contains scenes and language that may not be suitable for the very young and faint of heart. I'm worried about getting flagged for the content and rating and I might later change the rating of the story to M just to be safe. If it comes to that, hopefully you'll still continue to read the story and don't hesitate to give any feedback so I can make adjustments.

Anyway, disclaimer and warning given. I won't keep you long, so here we go with Chapter 5. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Sam opened her eyes and felt lost. What happened? Where was she? She rose and realized she was on her bed and a glance at her phone confirmed it was a Monday morning. Her room felt cold, but she was used to that. She looked around her room, she loved this place. She had her own apartment and she had a job, a purpose to get up every morning and see the people she came to care about. Work was fantastic. It hardly felt that she was working. It just seemed as going to her next favorite place and entertaining people who have the same infinite imagination such as herself and recommending them new titles and discussing about authors' legendary works.

Sam pushed her sheets and prepared to go through her daily routine. An hour and half later, she was back at the bookstore and cleaning the shelves. Her employees already used to her quirks. She was the type of manager who still participates in every task. Movement from behind alerted Sam and she casually turned around with the cloth still in her hand.

Kwan, her business partner and high school classmate, had one hand on his hip. He grew to be a handsome man and with his Asian heritage, his twinkly eyes always seemed as if he was going to cause some trouble, but he was otherwise kind and generous. Although at the moment, he did look like he was going to stir up something.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" Sam was surprised at how natural her flirtatious greeting came out.

"What's so good in the morning if I have just seen you tucked away in some corner pretending to work."

"Hey! I'm cleaning these babies." Sam gestured to the rows of dark colored hard-bounds with a large sign above them that says, 'Horror- Romance'.

The tips of Kwan's mouth curled in disbelief. "Yeah, right. Babies, my ass. You were just hiding from me."

"Why would I hide from you?"

"I don't know, Sam. Maybe because you haven't answered my question yet."

"What question?"

Kwan dropped his hand from his hips and heaved a sigh. "You're really going to make me repeat it, don't you?"

"Kwan, I – I honestly don't know what you're talking about." Sam unconsciously held the cloth tighter. Did he find something wrong with her job? Did the publisher 'forget' their deliveries again?

Kwan took a step toward her and inhaled. As co-owner of Skulk 'N Lurk, Kwan's opinions matter. Even if Sam could buy the store off from him, she didn't dare do it as she didn't want to use her parent's money and she also liked having him around. He knew his way around books. He also was sort of her boss.

Sam's eyes bulged as Kwan's steps forward, resulted in hers backward until her back hit the wall. There was something predatory in his stance and he raised one arm to lean on the wall, cornering her. Shoulders tensed, she watched him carefully.

"Samantha Manson, manager, secretly co-owner and formally my girlfriend, I'm now going to ask you this question for the 5th time this week." He removed his hand and got down to one knee. "Will you _please_ marry me?"

The sound of metal clattered to the ground and both Sam and Kwan turned their heads. At the other end of the shelves, a man watched them with utter shock on his face. It took Sam a second to recognize that raven-black hair and ocean-blue eyes. "D-Danny?"

Kwan immediately stood and conveniently put Sam behind him in a protective manner. "Fenton? Can I help you with something?"

Danny moved his lips as if he was going to explain something, but no words came out. He looked at Sam as if he lost the war and his fingers twitched like it was inching for something.

"Fenton, are you okay?"

Danny found it ironic that Kwan, Dash's right hand in bullying, was now asking him if he was okay as if he was really concerned. Danny wanted to hit him square in the face just for the heck of it, however there was something more urgent to attend to. His eyes landed back on Sam. He needed to—

"Why are you looking at my girlfriend like that? Do you think you can just barge in here and go back to her?"

"Girlfriend? Go back? What on earth, nevermind!" Danny scrubbed a hand through his hair in frustration. "Sam, I…" Explaining everything did not look so good right now. He ran the words in his head again, Nocturne, Sam, fainting, sleeping. He tried again. "Something happened", The more he thought of it, the more it felt ridiculous. Did he really think Vlad did something to Sam or was it just a dream?

"Fenton!"

To hell with it! "Sam! Uh… we met each other again some time this week. We were er, we were talking, and I was about to go but something happened." _Vlad happened. _"You got knocked out and I…" He trailed off, how difficult was it to explain a ghost attack? "I blacked out and—"

Kwan's fist met Danny's face and he staggered back with the force. He wasn't expecting to be punched, well, he wasn't expecting Kwan to be here at all. "You dare take advantage of her!"

Danny blinked. "What?"

"You touched my girlfriend! I'm going to kill you! Sam, call the cops. I'm going to make sure this loser won't go anywhere."

"What?"

"Kwan!"

Kwan stopped himself short and looked back at Sam, the fury in his eyes toned down. Sam gulped. She was at lost for words. "I…"

"Don't worry, babe. I won't let this freak lay a finger on your hair again." Kwan grabbed Danny by the collar of his shirt, even though Danny towered over him, Kwan's bulk was not something to be underestimated. He raised his fist for another punch.

"Kwan, No!"

The two men looked back at Sam again with questions in their eyes. "I… I think I know what he's talking about."

Danny who was on the verge of believing that everything he know only happened in his head and that Sam had actually have her whole life going ahead of her, suddenly felt energized. Was it possible that he was correct?

"You knew? You were aware? Is this the reason why you haven't answered me yet? Have you slept with this guy?" Kwan's accusations rained down on Sam, and Danny watched as she tried to grasp what was happening before her and what she was piecing together in her mind. Danny's insides twisted, he knew how it felt to be in the center of the void and to doubt himself whether the things he thought he knew actually happened or if it was just the product of his imagination.

"I don't… but I have this feeling."

"This is all your fault!" Danny felt the whoosh of air before the next punch came. Since he regained his wits, he ducked just in time avoid what would have been Kwan's best hit. With his head still on the low, he delivered a solid hit to Kwan's torso. Kwan instantly crumpled to the floor. Danny was thankful Sam didn't scream, otherwise, he might have to literally battle his way through this.

"Wha-What did you…"

Danny grabbed the opportunity whilst Sam was still in shock. Now that he was sure that this was still a part of Nocturne's scheming, he knew what he had to do.

"Sam, this isn't real. We're just dreaming, and we have to get out of here."

"How?" He started to approach her, but a hand grabbed his ankle and Danny stumbled face first and everything went black.

* * *

Danny opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the pew. He looked around, confused and was surprised to see women all dolled-up and wearing lavender gowns and men in tuxedos, all excitedly watching someone in front. Danny turned his head and was suddenly aware of an old man in front, talking to a couple.

"Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?"

Crap! Did he just sleep through Tucker's wedding? Both groom and bride were going to kill him.

The bride hesitated and Danny, like all the other guest, was curious. Something didn't feel right. He glanced around him again and recognized that the theme color seemed to be lavender. There seem to be a pull between him and the bride as she glanced at the guests and Danny's heart stopped when their eyes met.

"Sam."

"Danny."

The groom followed his bride's eyes and he uttered one word in disgust. "Fenton." It was Kwan. Again.

Danny spured into action as he dashed to the front. Never in his half-life he thought that he would crash a wedding but somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this wedding should never exist in the first place. Well, it could, since he forfeited his chance with Sam a long time ago. Danny started to feel a throb in his heart, but he pushed his musings away. Right now, all that mattered was to break free from this stupid realm. His feet pounded as he leaped on the pews. Guests panicked and some of the men tried to stop him but this time, Danny was prepared. He didn't care about anything or anyone around him except for the person in front.

He tried to fling ghost rays with the flick of his hand, but he was surprised that nothing happened. He almost lost focus and one of the men tried to grab him. He tried to transform but his suspicions were confirmed that his powers did not work. "Shit!"

Kwan wore a satisfied smirk as if he knew what was going on in Danny's head then he faced Sam and grabbed her hand, forcing the ring on her finger.

Sam's expression cleared and she curled her fingers. They were still struggling with the ring and Sam pulled her arm back and used Kwan's own momentum against him by swinging forward and landing a left hook to his face. Danny heard a resounding crack and Kwan howled in pain.

Danny reached the aisle in time, grabbed Sam by waist and did the only thing he could think of. Something he knew would also never happen in the waking world.

He kissed Sam.

Both of them froze when they realized what just happened and then the ground opened and the sensation of falling arrived.

"Ahhhh!"

Danny didn't let Sam go and wrapped her in his arms. He couldn't fly so he would just cushion their fall with his body. This was just a dream and he shouldn't be in any way harmed. Although if in any case that Nocturne got more powerful and could just kill them in this realm, then at least he was able to rescue Sam. That was all that mattered.

Danny welcomed the sensation of falling and the dread that this was his end.

* * *

Sam woke up on her side and stretched her arm to the edge of the bed. She let her right hand flopped against it. She heard an oomph and halted. _That_ did not feel like her mattress.

The mattress _moved_ under her hand and a man's arm rose and enveloped her.

She was stuck in a daze as she realized there was a body attached to the arm and she was carefully tucked against the warmth of another body against hers. Her head was arranged on someone's chest as they calmly breathed in and out.

Her mind tried to figure whatever was going on. Another part of her knew something did not seem right however something else nagged at her, this movement, this gesture, as if her body knew that this was something that should have happened a long time ago, she tried to explain it but her brain kept coming up with nothing but words none other than _familiar_ and _loving_.

Sam braced herself and finally looked up.

She was met with soft lips on hers and that same arm snaked around her waist, another held her head in place and the kiss deepened. She struggled at first but was slowly sucked in the fervor. The kiss suddenly broke as she gasped for air. Still chasing for breath, she laid eyes on one just woken up, smiling face of Danny Fenton.

Sam's heart stopped. Then all blood came in a rush and she felt warmth spreading in her chest. This familiar feeling. It was him.

"You're so beautiful." He lifted a hand to caress her face. This brought a blush and Danny chuckled as he lightly pinched her tinted cheeks. He leaned in and brushed his lips on the apple of her cheeks which made Sam even more red.

Danny laughed out loud and started to wrap her again in his arms. She let him and watched as his deep blue eyes crinkled in delight as he held a faraway look. "Wish we could stay like this forever." Sam heard the defeated note in that statement, and she witnessed the twinkle disappeared and the corners of his mouth now fell into a bittersweet smile.

"What do you mean?"

The hand that was playing with Sam's hair stilled and she found Danny's puzzled gaze on her. "Huh?"

"I asked, 'what do you mean?' Why do you sound like this is something that's going to be taken away any second now?" She loosened from his grasp as she sat on the bed. She was starting to get a really bad feeling about this.

Danny continued to stare at her silently and she noticed his eyes widened as he blurted, "When did you put a shirt on?"

"What?"

Sam looked down and realized she had a white shirt on, and she vaguely remembered feeling the silk of the sheets a while ago and the sensation that she was only in her underwear when she first woke up.

She scanned the room that they were in. Painted in hues of pastel blue and lavender, a king-sized bed in the middle with silk sheets, a dresser to the side and a photo of them on their wedding day.

Sam turned back to Danny, clarity coming back in her eyes. "Danny, when did we get married?"

Danny opened his mouth to answer but nothing came up. "I… This is the first time that you questioned me. Usually it's just…"

"Usually? Do you mean this happens often?" Danny was at lost for words. "Danny? What did you think this is? What is happening?" Sam knew she was beginning to sound hysterical but the feeling of something really bad was about to be revealed crept up on her, suffocating her.

Danny's eyes dawned and Sam knew he just figured this out the same time she did. Everything came back to them in an instant. Then his hand flew to catch his head, as if he was in pain. He squinted and his other hand gripped her arm. He forced to open his eyes as he stared at her. "This is not real."

Sam remembered that they were not married, and they definitely didn't have a relationship at all. This scene should not have happened. There was no point in being put into a dream about being married to someone who did not give a crap about her feelings. All the warmth she felt vaporized and was replaced by dread.

"Gee, Danny, I didn't know that. Thanks for saying that out loud."

Danny seemed to have caught on the bitter reality of their stand on one another. "Your sarcasm is outstanding, maybe it can save us from here." He gritted his teeth against the onslaught of the pain.

"Maybe it can, since you and your powers haven't shown any use so far."

The headache became a hammering. "My apologies, for being so useless to you, milady. Maybe you should've married Kwan, the bookstore bouncer so he could have pounded the bed into reality."

Sam was about to retort when they heard the sound of footsteps running in the hall. Their fight momentarily forgotten.

"So, do you have any idea who that may be?"

Danny shrugged. "How would I know?" He still got one hand on his head, massaging it.

Sam glared at him. "Of course, you'd know! Aren't you my _dear husband_? You seem to be all-too knowledgeable of this place and this scenario. It looks like you've been having this dream for far too many times. Do we have kids? How many? Have they inherited your ghost powers? Maybe our kids would be a bit helpful seeing that they had the unfortunate, worthless genes of their father and my reliable ones."

Danny stopped and hung his head. He refused to look at her. Sam clamped her mouth shut as she realized what she had just said. "D-danny—"

"You know what, you're right. I'm just a useless, worthless piece of shit. I shouldn't have come back." He pulled off the sheets, bunched them to the side and quickly got off the bed.

"I'm sorry!"

Danny didn't seem to hear her. He was gazing at the door, the footsteps stopped on the other side of it. "Get off the bed, Sam."

Sam didn't budge. She felt awful. She didn't have the right to say those things when he did nothing but helped her when they were young, and he still helped her even today. Yes, he got her into trouble, but it wasn't his fault that ghosts and some people were against him and what he does. He tried his best to keep the peace on his own way.

Danny had been calling Sam's name a couple of times. Her words went straight to his heart and brain, and it crushed him to the core. Her view of him would never ever change, and that realization struck him dead. No amount of effort and words could bridge the gaping chasm between them.

Regardless of what Sam thought of him, Danny still could not let something ever happen to her. Since he wasn't getting any reaction from her, he positioned himself in front of the bed, effectively putting her behind him. If she hated him so much to the point that she would do something behind his back, he didn't care.

Sam blinked when she realized that Danny stood in front of her. She snapped out of her daze and scrambled off the bed to stand beside him.

Danny wanted to shout at Sam and hide her in the far corner. How could she continue to entrance, infuriate, insult and make him feel such emotions he already shunned too long ago and still stand beside him and endanger herself all at the same time?

The knob turned and both of them held their breaths.

It opened to reveal a little girl with raven-black hair and big, round indigo-colored eyes, her face radiated beauty and her porcelain, chubby cheeks flushed from the running. She looked to be about five years old.

"Mom? Dad? Are you fighting again?" Her voice was angelic and so innocent, but Sam's ears detected a faint echo.

Sam couldn't explain the joy and warmth that spread in her chest. She approached the adorable girl and picked her up. She carried her back to the bed and sat down. Danny found himself bewitched; his legs automatically followed them on the bed.

Sam held the child carefully as if she would be whisked away. She traced her features with her eyes. She felt the bed dipped and knew Danny was just right beside them. She wasn't surprised to see his face from the corner of her eyes, leaning in. He gave the child a small peck on her cheeks just like what he did to hers when they first woke up.

"No, baby." He cooed in the softest voice she ever heard from him. Their little girl laughed in her little, heavenly voice and both Sam and Danny found themselves laughing along with her. She brought about such a light and warm presence that cannot be ignored. Her charm was so powerful it pulled people in.

She smiled at Danny and showed of her small, pearly whites and declared, "I love you, daddy!"

Danny's heart stopped. This feeling, it was so warm, and bright, and it felt… not right. "No."

Sam's head whipped, "What?"

Danny saw the little girl's face fell and her eyes started to tear up, he immediately wanted to wipe those tears away and tell her that he was joking and he loved Sam and he loved her, their little angel, and that they will do all sort of family things that people do, but he saw the dark aura from the child and as soon as it appeared, it was gone. Something was definitely off.

Sam held the child closer to her chest, shielding her away from him. "How could you say that to your own daughter?" The kid started sobbing and buried her head in Sam's chest further. "Sheesh, baby. Im sure daddy loves you. He was just joking. He loves you and he loves us. You're our little angel. Sheesh, now baby."

Danny's jaw dropped. Those were the exact words on his head. He didn't think twice and grabbed the child from Sam's arms. The movement was so unexpected, Sam accidentally let go but one glance at the child's face got her grip tightening around her little ankles and they were engaged in a tug-of-war.

"What are you doing, Danny?" She pulled the girl's ankles.

"Let her go, Sam! This is not real! She's tricking us!" Danny tugged the child from Sam.

Sam pulled from her end again. "What the heck are you saying? Stop this Danny! You're hurting her!"

The child cried harder, her piercing voice began to overpower Danny and Sam's argument and Danny could feel the magnetic pull again. His strength began to falter as he doubted his own actions.

"Stop hurting our daughter!"

Danny solidified his decision. "If she's our daughter how come we don't even know her name!"

"What are you saying? Of course, we know her name! It's…" Sam stopped and looked at Danny in horror. He was right.

Danny saw his opportunity and pulled the kid in one go. He was sure that this was just another one of Nocturne's dream world, how could he fall for this when they were just arguing a while ago about being married. Was it just a few minutes ago? It suddenly felt like the argument happened eons ago. Danny knew that the more they stay in whatever land this was, the more that they will slowly lose their grip form reality.

Nocturne knew that giving them a nightmare would give him power, dreams that were based on their innermost desires on the other hand would absolutely trap them forever. Why wake up when you already have everything you want?

Holding onto this thought, Danny threw the child and did the unthinkable.

He fired a ghost ray in her direction. The little girl screamed. Danny screamed. Sam screamed. She fought to slap his arm away, but he firmly stood in place.

Tears stained both of their cheeks. The screams died and the ghost ray evaporated, leaving a trail of smoke and ectoplasm in place. Sam's fist clenched and her arms hugged him from behind.

"This should be a lesson for you." Danny detached himself from Sam's arms and faced her. "I'll never be a deserving husband or father. You should know better. We should stay away from each other."

Sam was speechless. This roller coaster of heart-wrenching emotions drained her, and she was at loss. She didn't know what to say anymore or what to do. The agony of losing a child was still shredding her insides, at the same time, the reality of Danny thinking he didn't deserve having a family ate at her.

Sam knew there was one thing that pained her the most, which was Danny giving up on the possibility of them even before they can start again.

The dream world around them started to deteriorate and soon after, Sam found herself waking up with tears running down her face.

The moment she opened her eyes, she knew that this was the real world.

And waking up had never fucking hurt like this before.

* * *

A:N: Okayyy, aside from real life still rolling and keeping me occupied most of the time that I can't update as soon as I wanted, there is also the internal battle whether I should explore and post this scene (and the rest of the scenes and chapters that are sitting in my laptop's storage) as its beginning to show some of mind's kind of disturbing products.

We're starting to get some dark and mature vibes here and I'm not sure whether we're ready to go down that road. On the other hand though, the timeline on this fic is about 6-7ish years from high school so darker and mature content is sort of always just around the corner. I'm not certain about everyone's age but as one of the feedback I received is that adult team phantom is pretty close to their age (_which is the same for my case_) (also I didn't mention their name in case they don't want this info announced to the public) , so that also gave me a boost to continue down this path.

Anyway, thank you so much for your continued support. I am receiving the email updates and it makes me glad every time a new alert comes in on my inbox. I'm sorry the update schedule isn't consistent but rest assured that I'm continuing my fanfictions, not just this one - _wink! wink! - _

P.S. Wedding planning and preparation can be such a pain but it's also fun.

Alright, thanks again for reading and if read until this section. Please leave a review. Thanks.

~T. E


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Danny's heart broke as he watched Sam waking up with tears streaming down her face. He had woken up a few seconds before her and remembered everything that had taken place. Everything that he did, and he said in the dream world was for Sam.

It was true. He was willing to go through hell and back just to get her out of there. The thought of hurting a child, most importantly, theirs, killed him from the inside. He knew that was something he could never go back from. He loved her. He would do anything for her.

If they could be together in another world, in another timeline where he wasn't chased up and targeted by all the shitty, manipulative creatures, maybe there was a possibility of Sam and him, and building a family. If they do, he would never do anything to harm them. He would love them with all of his being, and he would do everything they want. He would go with them to the places they want to visit. He would do anything for them.

Danny watched as Sam got up to leave and stopped. She looked back and was shocked. Danny suddenly realized that he was back to his human form, stinking and basically homeless. He would've thought that it was the source of Sam's expression, but she didn't look that disgusted.

Danny traced her line of sight and saw his arm was elevated and handcuffs joined their hands.

Danny scrambled to sit up causing Sam's left arm to be jerked back. "S-sorry." He quickly raised his hands in a placating manner and it automatically raised her left hand as well.

The door opened and Tucker came in. He was surprised for a second, but he recovered quickly. "Oh, thank God, you're both awake!"

"Tucker?"

Danny observed the exchange between the two people he valued the most. Tucker looked genuinely happy to see them both up and about however Sam's expression shifted to suspicion then pure hatred.

"I knew it! I should've known better than to trust you!" She pointed a finger at Tucker who unconsciously took a step back. "You were behind this after all! What did you do to me? Was Danny even in the ghost zone all this time?!"

Tucker raised both his hands in the same placating manner while cautiously keeping an eye on Sam and her legs. Danny started to see green, Tucker was getting married why the hell was he checking out Sam's—

A sharp tug jolted Danny from the bed and his eyes bulged at the sight of Sam trying to kick her way into Tucker's nether regions. Tucker on the other hand, knew what was coming and instantly jumped back. He then circled away from Sam, but he forgot that Danny was linked to her, literally and he was surprised to realize that Danny was dragged to the edge of the bed. He was within arm's length, but instincts still took over and Tucker took a step back and hit the wall.

"I swear, Foley, if you try to get away one more time, I'll put your neck between the handcuffs."

Tucker stared at Sam helplessly and looked behind her to see Danny with a poker face. "D-danny." He gulped. "Can you please help an old friend out?" His eyes darted between Danny and Sam.

Danny pinned him with his cold eyes for a few seconds that felt like a lifetime. Tucker knew that he was a dead man, if Danny decided to follow Sam's orders, which Tucker knew would most likely happen as he was still head over heels for her, then they would be the power couple everyone feared them to be. Danny then stopped killing him with his dagger eyes and shrugged. "Nah, I think I'm going to sit this one out."

Oh, fuck. That was even worse.

"If I were you, I'd start praying or explaining." Danny waved a hand on Sam's direction. "I'm pretty sure you don't want to make her mad."

Tucker swallowed. Sam didn't react from Danny's words and she continued to burn Tucker with her purple laser eyes. Tucker wiggled his right foot. If he could just jump sideways and hide in the nearby bathroom—

"Danny." Both Danny and Tucker snapped out of their own musings. Sam's gaze at Tucker was unwavering but she continued to address Danny. "Are you part of this?"

The air became charged and Tucker guessed that whatever happened while they were out in dreamland probably made matters worse.

"No."

Tucker waited if Danny would even try to explain himself, but he didn't. He knew that Sam was also giving him a chance to do so. Danny remained tight-lipped.

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes."

Sam seemed to weigh Danny's answers for a bit. "Then if Tucker tries to move his little foot again, hold him down. By his neck."

Silence. Then Danny replied, "Sure." He stood and loosened his stance, training his eyes on Tucker. Without looking back at Sam, he asked, "Anything else?"

"Alright! Alright! I'll talk! Just please, don't hurt my face. The wedding's in four days and I don't want to be remembered as the bruised groom."

"What four days? Isn't it about two weeks more or something?" Sam's brows furrowed further.

Tucker sea green eyes scanned the two again and paled. "Guys, I hate to break it to you but you two have been in coma for more than a week now."

"WHAT?!"

Tucker raised his arms again instinctively and cowered behind. "Please, please, don't hurt me. God, why do I have to be the one explaining this. God, please." He closed his eyes.

"Tucker, tell us what happened. Tucker. Tucker!"

Tucker didn't seem to hear them so Danny, with Sam right behind him, approached Tucker and with one hand, removed Tucker's arm while Sam removed the other. "Foley!" Danny's voiced boomed and this did the trick. Tucker's eyes snapped open and fear clouded his face.

"Tell us what happened. Now."

"Start from the top." Sam warned.

"Please let go of my arms." Tucker said in a squeaky voice. Danny looked at Sam for approval before she gave a small nod and they both let him go. Tucker pushed himself backward and remembered he was trapped. He took a deep breath and recounted what occurred.

* * *

"_Babe, I'll make sure Danny will be there even if I had to resort to some undignified help."_

_The female voice on the phone could be heard sobbing and panicking, "What do you mean? Tucker? Don't do anything stupid!"_

"_Babe, I love you and I want Danny to be there too. I just need to make a few bad decisions and we'll have him back by that day. _

"_Are you crazy? He won't listen to you! He doesn't listen to anybody aside from Frostbite and Clockwork! But even them cannot persuade Danny directly." She paused. "Tucker, you're not thinking of going ahead with that plan, are you?" Tucker scuffed the toe of his shoe. "Tucker! No. You're not contacting them. This will just end up in more trouble. Danny will surely hate us after this—"_

"_Babe, we both know there's one person who can always change Danny's mind."_

"_Oh, God, Tucker. I like her. But please, don't drag her back into this."_

"_Babe, I love you. I'm sorry. I have a meeting." Tucker didn't give her a chance to answer as he ended the call and pocketed his phone. He turned to the table behind him and looked each member in the eye. "I just want Danny back on my wedding day. We've asked for Ember and maybe a simple love spell for the mean time. Why isn't she here?"_

_A mechanical chuckle emitted from the right of the table and a grown Skulker came into view. His helmet was bigger and nastier, and his suit armor looked heavier and his artillery was packed. "You, annoying geek, I already told you she's busy with our kids and the tour. We like the little punk to show some of his humanity back as well, but we can't risk a fight with him when we have everything to lose and he doesn't give a shit."_

_Tucker was obviously displeased, but he said, "Fine. Box Ghost?"_

_The box ghost who have put on a lot of bulk over the years and his overalls dirtier than ever, huffed, "What, you think I'm still stupid enough to prank that boy? One look from him and I can dissolve into ectoplasm. I have a family too, you know."_

_Tucker pinched the skin between his eyebrows. "Desiree?"_

_A sultry laugh echoed, and the vixen of a ghost came into view. "My dear, I've tried and tried. I almost drowned your friend in a wish-come-true pool, I even threw in some other gypsies, and he didn't even budge. He only has eyes for the same girl ever since and until now. What makes you think any of us can do something and won't suffer from his wrath afterward?"_

"_I- I just need for him to be with us on that day. I'm just asking for a bit of a spell, or a kidnap and dump thing, or even locked him in a 24-hour wish-thing on earth._

_The ghosts around the table were silent and for the first time in a long while they felt pity on the kid who used to have the halfa around him 24/7. Now that they grew and moved on, the techno geek looked as if he was 16 years old again, begging for his friend to come back. _

_Desiree let out another chuckle. "I mean it's not that I cannot grant it if you just say the word. We can but we just don't want any backlash. The zone's been kind of quiet nowadays that everybody was just minding their own business. The ones that roam the earth are immediately taken down by his parents or come back on their own accord after not getting any reaction from him. Challengers whether human or ghosts are still being accepted but they disappear afterward with no witness to any fights. Ghosts started to assume that he's taking them down silently and destroying their essence, so they won't reform. It's like Dark Dan all over again."_

_The ghosts gasped. "Don't you say that again." One of them reprimanded._

_Desiree shrugged. "Well, you monkeys are hiding your tails between your legs. Nobody wants to admit it but either there is no point in chasing him or you're too afraid to provoke him."_

"_Well, there's always someone that you can snatch, and he will be provoked. There's always the other ghosts who have a bone to pick with him." That velvety voice suddenly came from the opposite end of the table. _

_Tucker clenched his fist. "Plasmius. I don't remember inviting you to this meeting. This isn't even known."_

"_Foolish child, you think I don't have eyes and ears all over the place? You and I know that Daniel isn't all stoic and frozen as he wanted us all to think. Just find the girl and bother her enough for him to come out."_

_The box ghost chimed in, "You know, kid. The man's right. Grab the girl and the halfa will show up. We all know he claimed her but didn't actually claim her."_

"_No."_

_Suddenly, Tucker's wrists were locked behind him and his head was pushed to the table. The box ghost towering behind him and Skulker waiving a gun on his face. Desiree floated with glee. "Don't you lay a finger on Sam. It's not just Danny you'd be worrying about if you dare touch her." Tucker gritted out._

"_You're in no position to make demands, or threats. Or lack of thereof." Plasmius hovered in front of him, phasing through the table. He leaned in. "Boy."_

_Desiree laughed. "Don't lay a finger on Sam? So, you wish it. So, shall it be!" Her laughed echoed and wisps of green smoke filled the room. _

"_Noooo!"_

_Box ghost held up Tucker by the hair. Plasmius looked at him directly in the eye. "You'll have Daniel on your wedding day. Samantha won't be harmed. My client has already agreed to help, and he doesn't worry about the nonsense 'backlash' these ghosts claim. Plan will commence next week. Samantha will be out of commission for quite some time so prepare an excuse for her. Get a safe, secluded location for them. Understood?"_

_Tucker just stared at Vlad, trying to digest all the information and realizing his earlier words did ring true. He just made some stupid decision. What would happen to his friends?_

"_Also, it doesn't matter whether you actually cooperate or not. The plan will go through with or without you. Samantha won't be harmed," Vlad repeated and paused. "At least not physically."_

_Tucker's eyes bulged. "What do you mean?"_

"_I'll get both of them together. The question is if both of can come out unscathed and whether if they can come around." _

_Tucker swore there was an inside joke that he just missed but Plasmius' evil laugh reverberated and before he could even think further, someone struck him in the back of his head, and everything shut down._

* * *

Danny and Sam did not utter a word even after Tucker related the whole story. Tucker knew Danny would pulverize him to the ground for his stupidity and actually going through the so-called plan with Vlad. The three of them now sat on the bed and the two kept watching him with straight faces. Tucker fidgeted. These two were so good with tension and manipulating it to their own advantage.

"Remind me not to cross you again." Danny suddenly said. "You could have just told me to go to your damn wedding, you didn't have to go through all these hoops."

"I did! Remember? But you freaked out on me!"

"I was shocked and mad! What do you want me to do? Congratulate you for—"

The door burst open and came in a very pregnant lady with auburn hair down to her waist. "Danny!" She dropped her bag and flipped the door shut with her foot then came barreling down on Danny. She tackled him in a bear hug. Danny couldn't move, afraid that he might accidentally burst her stomach and kill her and the _oh, God,_ the baby.

Sam watched the whole exchange in amazement. She couldn't help but smirk when she realized the cause of Danny's reaction when Tucker and Jazz broke the news to him. Damn, Tucker got his best friend's older sister knocked up. She had to give Tucker some credit. He had guts.

First, even thinking of being in a relationship with Jazz Fenton, of all people, then getting her knocked up and scheming in a kidnapping operation with ghosts to get back the bride's brother and his best friend. She still had the strong urge to pummel him to dust but for the sake of the unborn child, she chose to let it slide. Certainly not all of it, but enough for Tucker to attend his own wedding, the birthing of his child and once everything was settled, Sam would take her sweet time in giving him a hell of a payback.

Sam's thoughts were interrupted when she felt Jazz's bear hug focused on her. She awkwardly patted her now-wide back. Jazz became huge with the pregnancy, but she still looked gorgeous. Damn Fenton genes.

_And she said my genes are worthless_. Sam stilled, that voice. She turned to Danny who raised a brow at her. His lips not moving. Did she just? Jazz was still excitedly speaking and there were tears in her eyes and Tucker made space for her on the large bed and the four of them now sat together. Tucker doted on Jazz, but Sam couldn't shake the feeling that she just heard Danny's voice in her head.

She hadn't heard a word from the conversation. Sam knew what she actually heard from her head, but she needed to test it.

_Your fly is open._ From the corner of her eye, Danny stiffened, and he casually put a hand over his fly to check.

What the actual f—Danny's eyes flew to her and Sam knew she was caught.

"What's going on?" Jazz's chatter stopped to question them. Her eyes darted calculatingly. "Are you two having a silent conversation?"

Sam and Danny opened their mouth to explain but nothing came out. Jazz turned to Danny. "Danny, what did you do to Chris?"

The line of Sam's body tightened. Danny blankly looked at Jazz. "Chris who?"

Sam immediately pictured Chris's blond hair and blue eyes. Danny's eyes sharpened, and his jaw was set.

"Aha!" All three of them looked at Jazz like she lost her mind. "You can access each other's thoughts!"

"What?"

"No."

"Shit."

The responses came all at the same time from Tucker, Sam and Danny respectively. Before any of them could follow up, Jazz held a finger. "Alright, just because I'm pregnant, doesn't mean I'm reduced to a brainless woman fueled by hormones. We acknowledge that my fiancé here did something stupid in the name of getting back my brother, A.K.A his best friend—And," Jazz glanced at Sam since she knew that she was about to retort. "Sam, you're not collateral damage or whatever. You're here because you have an important part on our lives and I really, really like you. I like you so much that you're like family to me, to us and, okay, I'm rambling. Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, right. We admit it's our fault. I share the blame with Tucker. We're sorry and we didn't know that it would go this far. We never thought that Nocturne was involved, and we did try to put him in place.

Turned out, Nocturne is already weak from the last time he fought Danny, but his body can still do damage if it's injected into the bloodstream. In fact, it's highly dangerous and ghostly coma is real. Danny managed to wake up from it on his own the first time, we think it's because of his powers.

Sam on the other hand, never showed any signs of waking up. That is until when Tucker put you both in this room and your skins accidentally brushed. We didn't know it at the time, but the signs of struggle were there. It was only after a few days that we realized the connection between you two needs to be a literal link for us to try and get you back in the waking world."

Sam's head was spinning with all of Jazz ramblings. "Sorry, what?"

As usual, Jazz was at least five conversations ahead of everyone else. "The handcuffs were made by our parents, it's made so that Danny won't accidentally phase through and to connect your brains' frequency with each other even if you're not physically touching. You see, the cuffs can turn invisible but once you take them off without the skin contact with each other, you'll fall into another deep slumber that will eventually result to ghost coma. Ghost coma is lethal to humans not just because it's basically depriving the body of food, fluid and air but it's also damaging the mind and eventually transforming the human body to ghost."

Silence filled the room until Danny asked quietly. "Did you just say Vlad and Nocturne conspired to turn Sam into a halfa?"

Jazz turned her teal eyes to her brother. "No. They conspired to kill Sam and turn her into a full ghost."

Danny's fist tightened. His eyes flashed a glowing yellow.

"Before you go ballistic, little brother, listen to this. Sam's body didn't turn because she's already used to ectoplasm. She's getting ectoplasm somewhere other than the induced coma and the type of ectoplasm she's receiving is balanced enough to have human DNA in it."

The statement didn't elicit the reaction she anticipated.

Jazz sighed. "She's getting the antidote from you, Danny. You're a halfa. Your body's blood and ectoplasm are equal. So, when Nocturne's starry essence invaded Sam's body, she already had her half-ghost, half-human antibodies. That was the only reason she didn't die within the first few hours of being injected. We have to keep you both in IV drip for the body fluids for the first few days. There are times we thought you or Sam's gone for good but I'm guessing your subconscious was fighting and was aware of what transpired before and that you had to go back and wake up. What puzzles me is that even though you're physically together, it wasn't enough, and Sam's vital signs would drop but it would come back up and stabilize again. The only theory that I have is that the contact between you and Sam continued to happen even in your subconscious."

Danny froze and he had fought to keep the blush from his cheeks appearing. Sam averted her eyes. Jazz watched the two of them and cleared her throat. "Erm, as usual. I'm right."

Neither of them had the gall to deny.

Tucker looked between the two and his eyes twinkled. "Well, aren't one of you going to question my wife's theory?"

Jazz narrowed her eyes at Tucker. "Fiancée." She corrected. "We're not yet married, and I think they are both smart enough to know what I'm talking about."

"What's wrong, Sam? You look like a cross between constipated and nauseated?" Sam glared at Tucker for bringing this up and now all eyes were on her.

"Nothing."

"You have a question…" Tucker chided in a sing-song voice.

"No."

"Yes, you do."

A short glaring contest went down between Tucker and Sam while the Fenton siblings watched. Danny's fist tightened. "Leave her alone, Tucker."

"We all know she has this little question bugging her mind."

"And we all know the answer." Danny snapped back.

"No, we don't. We kind of don't have access to her thoughts, like you do."

Danny was at loss for words. Sam beat him to it when she asked Jazz directly, "You said that I already have ghost DNA even before I got the injection. I don't."

Jazz paused as she measured how to lay it down without making it more awkward. "Yes, you do." She could feel Danny's eyes on her. Tucker's too.

"I need some air." Danny tried to stand to dissipate the tension.

"We're handcuffed, Fenton. Sit. Down." Sam's acidic voice burned him on the spot and Danny slowly sank back on the bed.

"I could just give you the answer and save us all this conversation."

"I don't want to hear it from you."

Danny zipped his mouth shut. He leaned back on the headboard, tried to cross his arms over his chest and realized they were cuffed and stopped. He tipped his head back instead and closed his eyes.

"Jazz?" Sam prompted.

"It can be transferred by intravenous or bodily fluids exchange."

"I…"

_And I could have saved us from this awkward conversation. _

Sam smacked Danny in the chest, hard. "Oopmh!" He choked and coughed. "Hey!" He tried to shield himself and they both struggled. Tucker put a protective arm in front of Jazz and eased them backward.

"You are such a jerk. Ass—"

"Sam. Sam! Stop, hey—" Sam continued to try and pummel Danny with one hand and use the handcuffed one to pin him. Danny continued to block her without making any effort to actually stop her.

_Damn it, Sam! Stop hitting me with Jazz here. This is not good for her._

Sam clenched her fists and lowered her arms, her eyes still blazing.

_Thank you. Hit me all you want. Once they leave. _

_I will._

"Fine." Sam said for the benefit of Tucker and Jazz. "What's the plan?"

The couple blinked. Jazz recovered fast. "Alright, this is the first time that you both are awake, and I don't want any of you letting your guards down. The thing is still in your bloodstreams and can grab your consciousness away and for good if we're not careful."

"So, we just stick with each other for the mean time. Got it." Danny was about to get up.

"No!"

"You have to be physically and mentally connected all the time. The only thing that's keeping you in that state now are those handcuffs. If you remove them, we're doomed."

Danny started to get tired. This had been the first time he went out of the Zone for a long time and it had been a series of interactions and it was draining him out with all the conversation and tension. Being unable to tell reality from fantasy was hard enough but being with Sam and his family with all that had happened and was still happening was really leaving him powerless. He couldn't tolerate feeling powerless much less about their circumstance. He had to regain some sort of control. Starting with himself.

"Jazz, we get it. I know you're worried, but we have to move on our own."

"What move on your own? You can't do that!"

"For Pete's sake, Jazz, I need to take a bath!"

"Then you and Sam take a bath!"

"Jazz!"

"What, are you going to tell me that nothing happened while you two were in dreamland or that you don't have any feelings—"

Danny put his face on his hands, he hated how Jazz can always see through him and he hated how frank and blatant she was being with him and Sam right now.

_She's pregnant, let it go._ Sam's voice brushed with his thoughts and Danny held his breath. _I believe all of you. I'm going to go with the flow and … whatever happened between us would have to wait until this is all sorted out._

Danny sighed. "Fine."

Silence greeted him and he looked up and realized he replied to Sam outloud. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, mental conversation back there, courtesy of ghost handcuffs." He casually reasoned.

Jazz and Tucker still hadn't said anything. "What?"

"Um, dude, the handcuffs don't give you mind reading powers."

"What?"

"It cannot affect your thoughts. The mental conversation is purely between you and Sam. Your psychic abilities must have been heightened during the time your subconscious battled against Nocturne's mind tricks."

Sam started to argue. "A while ago you said we have access to each other's thoughts—"

"Yes, I did but I didn't say it was a side effect of the Fenton handcuffs. I just stated it and you kind of confirmed it. You and Danny have learned to rely on each other's mind and build a connection since you've struggled to identify which was real and wasn't."

"Hmmkay."

"Okay?"

"So, you can read each other's minds but all you have to say is okay?" Tucker watched Sam and Danny in disbelief.

"Let it go, Tuck."

"But hey, this is great! Now you know whether Danny's telling the truth and—"

"Tucker. I -I get it. Can we just let Danny take a bath? Can't believe we've been sleeping together here for more than a week. God, we stink."

"Sure."

"Should we try to remove the handcuffs?"

"Are you two dumbasses not taking my words seriously?" Sam, Danny and Tucker glanced at Jazz with their jaws hanging open. "We remove the cuffs, the link disappears. You sleep and you die! What part of need-to-be-connected-at-all-times don't you get?" Jazz eyed Danny and Sam furiously. "If you want to remove the cuffs, fine, but Danny, don't you come running to us for help if Sam won't ever wake up. You both got lucky with whatever you did in dreamland but it's not a guarantee that doing the same thing will get you out. Ghost's ectoplasm doesn't leave the human body the same way as bad bacteria does. It stays for a long time. Unless you do something to counteract it permanently."

Jazz pinned Danny with her eyes. Sam knew even if they don't share the same psychic link, siblings have a way of silently communicating with each other. Danny finally relented. "Fine, handcuffs stay."

The tension finally evaporated.

Danny turned to Sam and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, Sam, I really need to take a bath."

* * *

A/N: Hello there! Apologies for the long delay. I hope everyone is okay, safe and sound.

Please read and review. I appreciate your responses though I'm unable to reply to each of them.

Thank you for being there and if you're still reading, thank you very much for your support.

I would really love to hear from you.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**_ Hi guys! I just need to give some needed disclaimer and fair warning before we go ahead with this chapter.

1\. I don't own Danny Phantom.

2\. Team Phantom are in their early-mid twenties on this AU.

3\. This chapter's rating may be considered High T. (Or I may up the whole story rating to M, if needed in the future)

Alright, so that's it. Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_Danny turned to Sam and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, Sam, I really need to take a bath."_

Sam's face twisted sourly. Of course, leave it to Danny to decide to take a bath after a hundred years. Also, to take a bath when he was handcuffed to her and after everything that occurred in Nocturne's realm. Just perfect.

"Are we just going to cut you guys out of your clothes?" Jazz interrupted Sam's bitter thoughts politely with scissors on hand.

Danny shrugged even before Sam could reply. "I'll just phase us out of our clothes." Then he realized what he said and awkwardly cleared his throat, running a hand through his long, dirty hair. "Uh, I mean, I'll phase out of mine. And you- you girls do what you need to do." He started to trudge to the bathroom and had to force to stop when again, he realized that he was chained to Sam, who didn't budge.

"Uhm, er, Sam?"

Sam sighed and quietly took the scissors from Jazz and grabbed the necessities Jazz had prepared for her. She bunched them all in one hand and followed Danny wordlessly to the bathroom. She was just thankful that Tucker didn't dare open his mouth about this.

The bathroom was large enough that it can accommodate two people in the shower but not huge enough to have a bathtub. Danny stood under the shower, staring straight ahead.

The door closed and they heard Tucker's voice. "You know, when I get naked in the bathroom, the shower gets turned on." He chuckled and added under his breath, loud enough for Danny's ears to pick up, "I'm not sure about you two."

Danny started to turn the shower knob when Sam squeaked. His head swiveled to her direction with wide eyes. "Uh?"

Sam gritted her teeth. She looked like she was about to say something but changed her mind and averted her eyes instead. "You go first and I'll just…" She turned her back on him, but since they were handcuffed, she only managed to do this halfway with her hand awkwardly hanging between them.

Danny opened his mouth and closed it. He hesitated then faced the shower again. "Fine." He took a breath and made himself intangible. Sam heard the rustle of his clothes falling down the floor. Danny bent to pick up his dirty clothes and accidentally dragged Sam down. Her arm got pulled, and she fell on her side. Her cheek slammed on Danny's shoulder. Stars danced in her vision.

Danny jerked with the sudden skin contact. His foot slipped. Both tumbled on the cold, hard tile. Sam's face bounced from his shoulder to his naked chest and Danny struggled to get up, his free arm instinctively grasped around the nearest metal to haul them up.

As Danny pulled their bodies off the floor, the metal creaked with the unexpected weight and a millisecond later, ice cold water assaulted them. Sam shrieked and Danny lost his footing again.

They landed on Danny's back with Sam on top, ice cold water raining down on them. Sam shivered involuntarily. Danny's eyes strained with fat drops of water on his face. He gasped and sputtered.

"S-Sam—"

"—Turn it off! Turn that thing off!" Sam flailed around blindly.

Freezing water continued to pelt them. "I-I can't!" Danny choked and he struggled to spit the damn water out. "Can't reach it!"

Sam's body started to tremble. "I-it's fucking cold, D-Daniel. Shut the damn thing!"

Danny tried to get up again but with Sam's panicking body on top of him, he couldn't do anything. He paused, wiped his eyes and aimed his fist at the shower head. Pale blue ray shot from his hand and it froze all the water coming out.

Sam's breathing slowed and with quaking arms, she attempted to sit up. Danny's arm quickly held her in place and pushed her back down again. Sam's jaw bounced off Danny's chest and her limbs trembled.

"F-fenton!"

"Damn it, Samantha. Stop moving around. Just lie down. Flat. On me."

"What?"

Danny could feel all the blood rushed to his head. "I mean, lie down, turn your head, look up. I'm not trying to do anything. Just see this for yourself."

Sam wanted to punch him in the face but struggling and attacking Danny wasn't looking good on her list right now.

She prayed for more patience and cautiously stayed flat on top of him and turned her head up as he instructed. Amazed was the first thing that came to her mind, followed by worry and fear.

From the shower down to a foot above Sam's head were frozen fractals jutting out here and there. One wrong move and she would have been impaled.

Its danger was both terrifying and beautiful. It almost looked exactly like that wondrous, icy chandelier in the animated movie and Sam almost sang. Beneath her, Sam felt Danny shaking, looking back at him, she came face to face with Danny Fenton trying so hard not to laugh, his face turning red. Sam watched him blankly.

"Let me guess, the cold never bothered you anyway?" He finally couldn't contain it and Danny burst out laughing. Damn psychic shit. Sam knew she should feel some semblance of embarrassment but watching Danny's hard face melt into happiness warmed her heart. Hope bled through her veins. A small smile slipped on her lips.

_Yeah, it never did._

* * *

"I need to shave." Danny spat out water and returned his toothbrush to its holder. He studied himself on the mirror by the sink.

"Yes, you do." Sam nodded, storing her own toothbrush and tightening the towel wrapped around her.

Danny didn't move. They successfully avoided being shower icicles kebab thanks to Danny undoing his ice powers. The only down side? The onslaught of freezing water didn't leave any room for mercy. Both of them were soaking and trembling as they stood up. Sam forcefully blocked herself from seeing (and remembering) Danny naked.

She later found out that the scissors given by Jazz has skidded under the sink from all their commotion. It was also too steep to reach. Left with no choice, she asked Danny to phase her out of her wet clothes. It was either that or rip them off.

Danny thankfully didn't make any inappropriate comments. To her surprise, he didn't say anything at all, and she found herself somewhat grateful. Taking a bath sure was awkward but Danny proved himself to be a complete gentleman. He didn't try to peek, or at least Sam thought he didn't. She scrubbed off the grit and grime of the week as quick as she could. Sam was done with herself within a few minutes while Danny took the time to remember basic human hygiene.

If Sam didn't know how clueless he could be at times, she would've thought that he was just prolonging their time in the bathroom.

Sam sighed. She was also watching their reflections from the mirror. "Just do what you need to do, Danny."

"Do I need to cut my hair as well?"

She glanced at him standing beside her with a towel around his waist. She immediately shifted her eyes up at his long locks dripping. Rivulets of water cascading from his face, down his body. Sam's eyes traced the rippling muscles from his abdomen. She gulped and looked away. "Yeah, um, you can use a trim."

Danny apparently caught her gawking at him as he continued to watch mirror Sam. He swallowed. "H-how?"

Sam wanted to grab the razor and shave all the hair from Danny's head like she was plowing through a field just to get it all over with, but she stopped herself. She took a breath and gazed back at Danny, forcing her eyes to stay up straight to his face this time.

"Fenton, we have four hands in total."

"Didn't realize that, Sam. Thanks."

She punched his shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Oh, did I hurt you?"

Danny grabbed the razor and concentrated on shaving his beard, avoiding her eyes.

_Yes, you did_.

Sam wasn't expecting the mental confession and she wasn't prepared for honesty and vulnerability from him. She clenched her fists and exhaled. _I'm sorry._

Danny continued with his task. Sam eyed him from the mirror but Danny remain tight-lipped. A beat passed and she heard his voice in her head again. _I know, you said that already. It's not like I don't deserve it but…_

_I know, it's just… I am sorry._

Danny finished the last strip of hair visible. _Stop apologizing, there's nothing to be sorry about anymore. Apology accepted. _He bent down to wash his face.

Sam blinked. _That was fast. _

Danny rinsed the razor and straightened. He held it up against his face and checked if he missed anything. _Well, since you're drooling all over my naked, wet body and you haven't sucked me into the Fenton Thermos or thrown me back into the ghost zone…_

_Hey! _Another punch greeted Danny's side. He lost his grip on the razor, it slipped and scraped his chin. Blood oozed out.

"Shit, sorry."

Danny caught the razor mid-air and rinsed the blood. He surveyed himself in the mirror again and was momentarily distracted. He hid the awe in his eyes. Damn, he didn't realize he could still pass as a human. Water and razor could really do miracles. His face was scrubbed, clean and devoid of gruff hairs. The cut has now healed.

The hair on his head was a different story though. With a glow from his eyes, ice frosted from the floor where the scissors skidded. The next moment, ice in the form of a growing stem reached the top of the sink. Danny plucked the scissors from his ice sculpture and tossed it on the counter. The little ice stem disintegrated back to water splashing on their feet.

He then noticed Sam's reflection in the mirror still watching him. He remembered they were having a conversation. "Stop saying sorry."

"Okay, sorry." She winced at her own knee-jerk reaction and bit her lip.

Danny felt confident. "One more sorry and we won't be needing this handcuff for a while." Satisfaction ran through him upon rendering Sam speechless and embarrassed.

"There. Wasn't so hard, right?'

"I hate you." She glared at him.

"I know, Sam."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you done, princess? Do you need the chambermaids to braid your long hair?"

Danny ignored her jab as he put the razor on the counter. He combed his long hair with his fingers while still looking at Sam's reflection in the mirror. "Do you want to braid my hair?"

"Fuck, no."

Danny paused. In one swift move, he had the scissors in one hand and had grabbed the breadth of his hair on the other. Within the following second, his hair was cut. Long, black strips falling onto the counter. Sam gaped as he threw the rest to the bin in the corner. He ruffled his hair with one hand and snipped the remaining locks covering his face.

He trimmed the sides and the back. Once done, he neatly placed the scissors on the sink. Sam's mouth was still hanging open.

"What?"

"Y-you cut your hair!"

"I did."

"Why?"

Danny shrugged. "It's a nuisance and besides, it might probably grow back." He picked up their balled, wet clothes from the corner and mumbled, "and you didn't want it."

"I said, I'm not going to braid the fuck out of your hair."

"Language, Sam."

"Damn it, Danny."

"See, you didn't even deny that you don't want it."

Sam huffed. "Like anything I say matters."

Danny turned to face her. "Yes, Sam. Everything you say and do matter. You matter. You know why?"

Sam glared at him but didn't say anything. "You don't? Or you're too afraid to acknowledge? Well, here it is, Samantha Manson. You matter because I love you and I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you since we started our stupid gazing game in high school, and you found out about me. What? Are you surprised? Really? After everything we went through and what has happened between us, you're still surprised? Guess you didn't really know me, huh? You're just as selfish as—"

"I am not selfish!"

He got into her face. "That's the part that got you talking, huh? It's always about you, isn't it? You didn't do anything. You were just a victim. You got caught between the ghost kid and the ghost hunter. You got caught between the loser from high school and your best friend. You were just a student wanting to survive school and get out of the claws of the system but this ghost kid and his enemies found you and dragged you into their fucking mess. You wanted to help but he left you. She left you. Everyone left you. _I _left you, didn't I, Sam?"

Sam wasn't aware that tears started streaking down her face. Each sentence out of his mouth pierced and crushed her heart. He wanted the raw truth? Fine. He was going to get it.

"Y-yes, you did, Danny. There. Are you happy? I'm crying. I'm fucking shedding tears over you. Are you fucking happy? I hope this makes you feel better." She didn't bother wiping her tears and allowed Danny to fully witness her breakdown. Her nose was running and streaming tears brought out hiccups. It wasn't a pleasant sight. It wasn't the cry that actresses do in movies. It was the ugly, my-heart-is-shredding-into-pieces type of bawling but Sam didn't care. He said he loves her? Could he still love a bawling woman with tears and snot running down her face?

Danny calmed down a bit. He raised a hand to wipe her tears but Sam took a step back. He dropped his hand and in a serious and gentle tone, he replied, "No. No, Sam. I don't want to see you crying. I don't want to see you hurt or sad because of me. That's why I left. I didn't know what else I can do. This is the life that I have and will always will. I was scared. I was a coward. I'm still fucking scared because I care too much. I don't want to wake up one day and realized that I lost you because I was selfish enough to stay and see if we will work out, only for my enemies to use you against me and win." He tried to wipe her tears again but Sam blocked his hand.

"Don't. I've had enough. You've had your time. You knew there was something beginning with us but you decided to end it even before we had the chance. So, just stop."

Danny retracted his hand and closed his fist. He steeled his resolve and with eyes clear of unshed tears, he gazed at Sam. "Fine, you know what I feel about you, but I'll stop. I'll stop from now on. This is the last time that you'll hear about my feelings. I'll find us a way out of this mess and once we're done. You won't hear from me again. I'll do whatever you want. If you want me to attend Tucker's wedding or Jazz's birthing, fine. But I won't bother you anymore. I'll let everyone know I'm nothing to you and you're nothing to me so they will stop bothering you as well.

Sam took a breath, echoing his resolve. "Fine." She turned to open the door.

"One more thing", Sam halted, and she was about to turn back, but Danny's voice stopped her. "Please wipe your tears, _baby_."

Sam's wall almost crumbled with that last part, but she followed him and use her arms to wipe her tears. She took another deep breath and opened the door.

* * *

Danny was greeted by both Jazz and Tucker staring at him with their eyes wide and jaws hitting the floor. His brows furrowed but they didn't budge. He snuck a glance at Sam, but she had her back to him and with what just happened in the bathroom, he knew he wouldn't be getting any reaction or words from her. He'd be lucky if she blinks if in case, he dies in front of her.

Danny waited for his sister or his best friend to start talking but they were just staring at him open-mouthed. He cleared his throat. The couple still didn't say anything. Or move. He tried again, "Well?"

Seconds passed. Nobody was saying anything. Sam rolled her eyes at their dramatic antics and waited. She wasn't sure how much they heard from the bathroom but she was too numb to care. She was getting impatient though, so she turned back to look at Danny and gawked.

Damn, she already knew what he looked like when he cut his hair in front of her. She wanted to stare at him right then and there, but he chose that moment to rile her up. But this, even with his shaggy, uneven hair and troubled, classic blue eyes, he still had that boyish, teenage charisma that complemented his rugged gait.

He also still had that teenage boy, pissed off look on his face. "What the fuck is wrong with you people?"

And there goes the awe moment for the gorgeous man. It flew out the window the second he opened his mouth.

Danny begrudgingly glanced at Sam with a fleeting hope that she will shed some enlightenment on this situation. Sam, the ever-classic Goth that she was, gave him a sarcastic once-over and with the poker face and flat voice answered, "People are dumbstruck to see you looking like a decent human." She was about to turn her back on him again when she paused and added, "And oh, you basically look like you fourteen-ish, sixteen-ish year-old self, so that's probably why."

Danny appeared offended. "I still look like a teenager?"

"Dude, most people take that as a compliment."

"You're dashing, baby brother." Jazz giggled and ran to hug him again. Jazz reached up to kiss both his cheeks and pinched them. Danny politely remove his sister's hands from his face and tried to steer her back to Tucker. He pretended not to notice the little flinch Sam's shoulders made at the mention of _baby_.

"I'm actually more interested on how to sort this thing out. We can talk about my teenage looks later."

"So cranky." He heard Jazz mumbled but he ignored it and raised his brow expectantly at them.

"Well, we're kind of thinking to get some of your blood and transfer it to Sam."

"Blood?"

Jazz sighed. "Nocturne's essence has been injected to your blood streams and it feeds on you. It's like a venom slowly killing you from the inside so we'll need an anti-venom."

"Uh, Jazz, you might be forgetting that I got injected too and you know, ghost powers or not, I'm affected."

"Yeah, but there's a certain point where you both can retaliate and come back. There has to be some balance that we need to attain to mimic that result. It's got to be a mix of your blood and a concrete connection."

"Well, you've got a mind link so that's the connection."

"That's not enough. The handcuffs do that for the time being but there has to be another factor aside from that. We almost lost you even with the cuffs on." Jazz put one hand at the back of her waist and the other on top of her stomach. "Anything else you two remember that can help us?"

Sam kept a stoic expression. Danny didn't budge as well. Jazz's eyes darted between them. "Fine, we'll start with blood transfusion."

"My body doesn't need blood." Sam tried to argue. Jazz was about to retort when an explosion rattled the ground.

"What the—"

Danny's ghost sense came off at the same time and he quickly changed to his ghost form. Sam felt the electricity of the transformation through the cuffs creeped up on her arms and limbs.

Plasmius appeared in front of Sam and before anyone could react, he blasted the handcuffs joining their hands. Danny countered with a massive ecto-ray that threw Plasmius off the wall. He laughed maniacally and disappeared but not without taunting them. "Oh, handcuffs off. Someone's going to lose their consciousness. Tick-tock. Tick-tock."

Sam looked down and saw the metal cuffs melting into pieces. Her wrist and hand were singed. She gasped as she started to see stars in her vision. "D-danny…"

Danny fired another ghost ray to where Vlad disappeared but it was too late and it only damaged the wall further. He grabbed Sam as she began to faint. "Sam. Sam!"

Sam blindly reached for Danny and grasped his arms, her vision faltering. "Jazz! Tucker! Do something!"

"Put her on the bed." Jazz pointed at the king-sized bed they had woken up a few moments ago. Danny saw the sheets were clean. They must have replaced everything when they were in the shower. Danny scooped up Sam's legs bridal style then laid her on the bed.

"Danny, sit down, we'll do the blood extraction now." Danny obeyed his sister and sat beside Sam on the bed. "Honey, can you please—"

"Sweetheart, I'll take care of this. Please sit down and I'll tend to you shortly."

Tucker quickly replaced Jazz and deftly struck Danny with a needle and an IV drip. "This is going to be a live blood donation and transfusion. You might want to get comfortable." He glanced at Danny who watched him dumbstruck. "Since when can you work with needles?"

"Since I started crushing on Jazz whose family is composed of scientist and you know, they could be doctors as well, sometimes."

Danny was about to retort when he felt the room swaying. He looked down to see his blood coming out and was surprised that Jazz was able to hook up Sam to an IV drip as well. Danny watched as his blood flowed out and in to Sam's vein. Her lips turning blue already. "Tuck, hurry."

Tucker bit his lower lip. "Doing that, buddy."

Danny stretched himself further and laid beside Sam.

"What are you doing?" Tucker paused with a hand on Danny's arm to fix the needle in place.

"We need to work together. Take care of our bodies and the blood transfusion. I'll try to reach out to Sam's subconscious."

Tucker and Jazz was aghast. "Are you crazy? If you slipped into unconsciousness, we might not be able to wake you both up."

Danny fixed them with cool eyes. "Do everything you can to save Sam. I'll do my part." He closed his eyes and fell into deep sleep."

"Danny!" Jazz tried to shake him awake but Tucker stopped her. "Sweetheart, he's already there. Don't worry, Danny loves Sam so much, he'll do anything to get her back, and knowing Sam, she won't be giving Danny another chance to play the hero card on her again. Let's just hope it's enough for them to hold onto each other."

* * *

_**A/N: **_Thanks for reading. I'm not sure if I over reacted about the rating or if the chapter live up to your expectations but reason for this is that I don't think Danny and Sam would play heavily on the attraction and would instantly jump on the opportunity to pursue each other, especially with the kind of messed up past that they had. There are still some issues they have to deal with. (And I may also still have issues with my writing confidence about certain scenes, haha).

I hope everyone is doing okay and please let me know what you think. I always appreciate your feedback and reviews fuel my creative juices as well.

Thanks again and please review.

~T.E


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Sorry to interrupt your reading. I just wanted to prioritize a few things before we go on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Rating: High T. (I think this one's valid now.)

Okay, thank you. Let's get back to the main programming.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"Sam?"

Danny started to walk around aimlessly. He didn't know where this episode would take him. He also didn't know where he would find Sam but he knew he just got to find her before it was too late.

"Sam?" He tried again. He got nothing.

Danny's steps led him to a light at the end of a dark tunnel. He stopped with his breath caught in his throat. He found his sixteen-year old self kissing a sixteen-year old Sam in the middle of a ghost fight.

Memories of the past assaulted him but instead of feeling, he was watching the experience as if he was in a movie theater.

Then, as if someone hit the replay button, the whole thing stopped and re-winded itself.

_Sixteen-year old Sam grabbed his shoulders, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Don't make me regret this."_

_He wrapped his arms around her waist and replied, "You won't."_

_And Ember's sound wave finally reached them._

Movement on the left grabbed Danny's attention and he was surprised to see Sam (the actual, grown up one) leaning on a wall and examining the same thing.

"You've got to admit, it was kind of a sloppy kiss." She commented like she was watching somebody else kissing.

If Danny was sixteen and Sam criticized his kissing skills, he would have blushed and disappeared in the ground but he couldn't help but agree with her. Everything that happened in the last couple of days was surreal. There was no room for embarrassment. Maybe he reached a new limit or that there was no limit anymore. "Yeah, it was rushed but you know, it's kind of pure and innocent."

She shrugged. "Maybe. It didn't change anyway."

"What?" _Okay, maybe there was still some room for surprise._

Sam finally looked at him and the scene before them vanished.

"You're saying that I'm still a sloppy kisser?" Danny's face was in aghast, his ego clearly bruised.

Sam's lips curled. "No, dumb ass. I'm saying that it's still innocent and pure."

Danny's mouth flopped open but he couldn't find words right away. He closed it and tried again. "Uh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that. Are you… are you asking to be kissed right now? You want me to show how much is the difference between then and now?"

Sam shook her head. "I was just stating a fact and here you are, offended and—"

"Of course, I'm offended! What do you want me to say? _Well, gee, thanks, Sam for giving me the low lights of my kissing skills from eons before. It's not like I haven't kissed you again a few days ago to save your ass. Forgive my sloppy lips, will you?"_

Without a second thought, Sam grabbed Danny and pressed her lips to his. Danny's eyes widened, and his fists opened. Sam guided his hands to her waist and Danny followed. He wrapped them around her body with one hand reaching up to cup the back of her neck. Sam held his shoulders for a second, coiled her arms around his neck and entangled her fingers against his hair. Danny stopped thinking and he just kissed. He kissed her like she was his. He kissed her with all the pent-up passion, frustration, and longing that he had all these years.

And she kissed him back.

Blood rushed from Danny's head. His body temperature skyrocketed. His hands shook as it started to roam Sam's lithe body. He surged forward and she stepped back. He wasn't fully aware that he began to pin her on the wall until they hit it and Sam gasped for air.

Danny didn't waste any second and switched on nibbling on her lower lip, a little moan escaped Sam's mouth. It spurred Danny further into action. He traced her jaw with his ravaging mouth, down her smooth neck. He licked and sucked frantically. Sam's body squirmed in response. Danny's mouth moved and his tongue found a sweet spot just behind her ear. He lightly drew the thin skin between his lips. Sam panted, her arms locking around his neck and body melting against his as she moaned right into his ear.

Danny gulped. Her reaction stirred something deep and primal in him and his body yearned for more.

Danny's hand grasped the back of Sam's head, her raven locks slipping and twisting between his fingers as his mouth got back to exploring the sensitive skin of her neck. Danny heard her growl which pumped him further. His hungry mouth took on consuming the flesh where her neck and shoulder met until she pushed him back. Hard.

"What?" Danny wheezed and confusion rolled in him in waves.

"We're still here." Sam looked around, disappointed. Her chest still heaving and her hair in disarray but her eyes devoid of any warmth or even a hint of their blazing attraction.

Danny's brows furrowed, hands shaking and body still wanting "What do you—" He followed her gaze and saw that they were still trapped in their little limbo. He glanced back at Sam. A dark cloud of anger hovered over him as he realized what she had just done.

Heart still pounding, he clenched his fists and stepped back, completely detaching himself from her. Disgust, dread and resentment began eating its way from the pit of his stomach. With accusing eyes and cold voice, he stated, "You used me."

Sam's face held no shame. Her eyes were nothing but blank, purple orbs of glass. "It's what we usually do and we wake up."

"So, you just initiated it like you were opening the door for me?" Danny could not mask the hurt from his voice.

Sam had the gall to bite her lip and hesitate. "I—"

"You don't need to say anything. I get it. You just did what you had to do. It's fine. It's not like I just confessed my feelings to you just hours ago!"

"Sorry."

Danny turned his back on her. He couldn't bear to look at her emotionless face. The kiss (if it all could just be summarized into "kiss") didn't really faze her at all. Her sorry was nothing but an echo of an empty room. She didn't care. She did it out of necessity, like blinking away the fog of sleep or expelling air.

Danny knew that confessing his feelings was his decision and she wasn't obliged to return them. In fact, she wasn't obliged to do anything at all and he respected that but it didn't change the fact that he was still hurt. Big time. He huffed and kicked the wall with all his might. It did nothing.

"You said that you won't talk about—"

"Yes, I know. I _did_. But damn it, Sam. At least give me some warning." He ran a hand through his hair. His ears were on fire, his body wanted to cave in on itself, begging for more but his heart, it was breaking into tiny, jagged pieces again and again. Danny gritted his teeth and hissed. "Or set some—" His voice broke and he clucked his tongue. "_rules_."

"Fine. We'll do the … uh, physical _stuff_ we did before so that we can get out of this thing. No questions, no strings attached."

Danny swallowed. _No strings attached, my ass. _"Fine." He paused, pocketed his enclosed fists and looked back at Sam, his eyelids still burning with self-hatred and unshed tears. He blinked and the flood of emotion teetering on the edge vanished. His voice steadied. "What about once we wake up? Vlad destroyed the cuffs, I don't think my parents can make another one that fast. Knowing them, they will probably add all the improvements they can think of."

Sam bit the inside of her cheek.

_How the hell could she still do simple things with that mouth of hers after what we did?_

"Alright, we'll continue with the physical stuff if needed. I'll hold your hand or something if I feel faint." She shrugged as if she just suggested what lotion to apply during rainy days.

Danny let out a mirthless laugh. "Hold my hand? Sam, you and I just kissed the daylights out of each other and nothing happened!" He held up his hands in exasperation.

Sam stared at Danny like his hair just turned red. She sighed. "What are you suggesting? How can you … we talk about this so casually?"

Danny scoffed. "Oh, now you're wondering?" He ran a hand through his hair again, shaking his head in disbelief. "Honestly? I don't know. I don't think I care. I'm done … Anyway, we should just continue what we're doing and if it's not working, we'll have to try something else. That's definitely what you're expecting right? Just go through the job, bang-bang, we're good, ma'am, thank you. Bye!"

Sam gave him the stink eye but she refused to comment. She chose to ignore everything he said and focus on what was important to her. "Let's just find another way to get out of here and put your enemies in their place.

Danny gave up. She already made up her mind and none of his outbursts would change her opinion of him. He was just wasting his energy. He took a calming breath and slowly released it. If she could kiss the socks out of him and act as if it was nothing then he could do the same.

He turned around, rolled his shoulders and walked away. Sam sighed and shook her head. She gave him a two-minute head start and followed.

* * *

Tucker and Jazz must have been able to do the transfusion by now and all they had to do here was to make sure that they could wake up. That was how far Danny could hope.

Walking around didn't give way to miracles. Danny halted. There was something different to where they were now compared to the previous dreams they had. He was pretty sure that they were still trapped in Nocturne's realm but the place did not emit the vibe that it was _that_ evil. Something should have happened by now.

"It's some kind of limbo, isn't it?" Sam asked brushing her hands over her arms as if she was cold.

Danny was still annoyed but he could not help but agree. "With a bomb ticking."

Sam exhaled; her limbs beginning to protest. She glanced down, that was when she saw a wooden stool. Surprised but not alarmed, she sat on it. Sam practically heard her muscles thanked her for doing so. Danny looked at her and frowned. "Where did that come from?"

She shrugged. "Just appeared out of nowhere. I'm tired so sitting probably is not a crime here."

Danny focused on the stool and a minute later, another one appeared beside it. They watched as it solidified. Danny snatched it and folded himself. "Huh, guess I'm right."

"About what?"

He imitated the shrug she did a while ago. "We have some kind of control in this place."

Sam contemplated for a bit and held out a hand. An empty glass appeared. She furrowed her brows. Water filled the glass and Sam drank it.

Danny eyed her with his arms crossed over his chest.

He held out his hand. A Ghost ray shot out and hit the wall. They both watched if the wall suffered some damage but it was spotless. Danny then formed ice rays and threw them. He followed this with thicker and sharper icicles that impaled the wall. The ice appeared to affect the structure. Danny thought of trying the ghost wail but dismissed it as soon as the idea came. He couldn't risk Sam, no matter how much she aggravated him.

"So, ice it is." Sam whispered. Danny nodded. He stood and increased the force. He dropped his body temperature. Sam rose as well and stepped back. The stools vanished. Danny focused and ice formed from his feet and crawled up to their surroundings. It didn't take long to get a reaction from the place itself. The limbo prison woke and fought back. The ground shook, trying to break the ice.

"Uh, Danny?"

Danny's jaw clenched. He changed to his alter ego, Danny Phantom, and held his ground. The cracking ice was replaced by thicker frost. Gusts of cold wind blew through. Sam slipped and her butt hit the frozen floor. She tried to get up but her knees gave out. Cold seeped through her clothes.

Sam set her jaw. Ice burned through her skin and her breath came in short puffs. Cracks on the ground opened and Danny rose in the air with both arms stretched, freezing everything around. The limbo fought back and continued to grumble.

Sam's teeth chattered. Damn it, neither Danny nor this place wasn't going to go down without giving it their all and Sam might just be the first and only casualty.

Her eyes scanned everything on sight. Not much could be found. She knew she could materialize some supplies but she would need to focus. She fought to come up with at least a decent jacket wrapped around her. She tightened her arms around her body but the cold oozed through her bones and froze her limbs. It would take her too long to create a warm jacket out of nowhere.

She opened her mouth to call Danny but the chattering wouldn't stop. She tried again. "D-D-Da…" She took another breath but making her vocal chords work while still holding on to the thought of a jacket covering her was too much of an effort. She mentally screamed in frustration.

_Fuck! Danny!_

The temperature stopped from dipping. The harsh winds died. Danny cranked his neck and spotted Sam on the frozen ground. He flew and swooped her in bridal style. He rose back in the air. "Shit, I'm sorry, Sam."

Sam could only glare at him. Danny didn't need their psychic connection to know he was toast. He increased his body temperature but it significantly increased the temperature of the whole place. The limbo prison shook further as if laughing. Shadow tentacles appeared out of nowhere and tried to ensnare them from air. Danny dodged them easily but more came and one snagged his ankle.

He tried to pull away but it gripped him tighter and began dragging them down. Danny inhaled sharply through his nose and ice covered the tentacle. He broke free and began throwing ice shields against the attacks.

Knowing that it was just sparring and waiting to tire him out, Danny went on defense instead and formed an ice capsule to protect him and Sam. He narrowed his eyes and dropped the temperature again a few notches down negative to keep the living prison at bay. He forced to keep everything outside of the ice capsule colder than inside but it wasn't enough for Sam's frail body.

She had been suffering in the cold for too long. Danny wanted to kick himself for not noticing right away.

"I-I don't know what to do, Sam." He whispered as he held her tighter. "We've got to keep you warm." She nodded. Danny tried to reduce his freezing body temperature but it was no good. He was just prolonging the inevitable. Sam needed warmth. Real heat. Danny didn't know he could hate his ice powers until now. He could only reduce the cold but he could not provide her with heat.

Well, not with this form anyway.

Sam's lips were turning blue. Her fingers already frigid. Danny thought of removing his gloves and giving it to her but it was no use. It would just make her feel colder. He held Sam nearer to his chest and closed his eyes. He reverted to his human form and did the only thing he could think of. He kissed her. Her lips were chapped and unresponsive. Her breaths sporadic. He clasped their hands together and alternated between kissing her and breathing warm air to their joined hands.

"Sam. Sam!" Danny continued to create friction and warmth by rubbing his palms faster and tighter. He removed his shirt and wrapped it around Sam. He took off his jeans and pushed Sam's legs into them. "Come on. Come on." He rubbed his palms to her pressure points. "You can't just give up on me here. I thought you said the cold doesn't bother you, you liar." He consciously increased the temperature inside their ice capsule while still keeping a firm grip of the freezing limbo outside.

Sam's finger twitched and she moaned. "Sam, if you don't wake up, I swear I'm going to do something here that we won't be able to turn back from. I know you can hear me somewhere in that freezing fog in your mind. I only have ice powers. We need heat, baby. Real one and we both know the only way to get it.

_I … don't have powers, idiot… _

Danny's lips involuntarily curled up. "Good, you can hear me. Now, if we can just warm you up further."

_No heat core… _

"Well, if you magically have a heat core that can rival my ice one that would be the answer to our problems, isn't it?" Danny breathed hot air once more into their hands and nuzzled Sam's neck. "I'm running out of ideas here so if you can help me out, if we can just work on your body heat and you know, don't die on me, that'd be a great help."

_Sure, just sex me up._

Danny froze.

He watched Sam's face for any sign of kidding around or if she was just being sarcastic as usual. Her eyes fluttered open and her intense lavender gaze fixed him on the spot. Being trapped in their subconscious improved their psychic communication so he must have heard her right but—

_C-can't hold on… _Sam tried to move but her breathing was becoming shallower. Her eyes drooped.

Danny's throat closed as well. _You can't be serious._

… _Danny … _Danny heard her faint heartbeat and he knew that he had to take action and he had to do it now.

He leaned down and captured Sam's mouth as he worked on heating up the rest of their bodies.

The world outside of their ice capsule faded away as fire exploded inside and they become entangled as one.

* * *

Sam woke up. Her eyes immediately found Danny's staring at her. "What happened?"

"Are you okay?" His eyes held the glitter of concern. Sam nodded, still trying to piece together the events on her mind. "Are you really okay?" Danny's face was skeptic. This time, Sam took a beat before answering. She mentally did a quick health check and moved her limbs. Her body felt sore but otherwise, kind of _good_.

She opened her mouth to answer but Danny's worried gaze stopped her. Events of what occurred came flooding back and Sam's cheeks heat up. She immediately averted her eyes and swallowed. "Y-yeah, I think."

Danny's concern morphed into something else. He choked on what he was about to say and gulped at least thrice before trying again. "We're not out of the woods yet."

This captured Sam's attention and pushed the embarrassment to the back of her mind. They were still in the limbo, but the dark presence was gone. The place didn't feel alive and evil anymore. It was just _their space_.

"I think we've found it's weakness, or at least some of it. This seems to be safe, we're safe, for now."

"Do I want to ask?"

Danny stared at Sam for a brief second. "No… I think it'll come to you." _I'm just not sure whether I hope it will or it won't._

"You're aware that I can hear you, right?"

Danny gave her a side look with his brow raised.

"What?"

"I'm being a gentleman here and giving you a chance to shut up so that—"

"So, we're not going to talk about it?"

"—this won't be awkward." Danny finished lamely. He glared at her and stood up. "Let's go."

Sam gave an impatient sigh and followed. She was surprised to find her legs a bit jelly at first but decided to ignore it. "Fine. But how come we're still here and how do we wake up?"

Danny turned back to her. "That's easy. We need something to stimulate ourselves into waking up."

"Like the feeling of falling? We've done that before."

"Or something like that." Danny smiled slyly and phased out of his clothes. The next thing Sam knew, Danny stood in his full frontal, naked glory.

Sam's mind came up blank. She did the only sensible thing she thought of. She screamed.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Thank you for reading! I'm not sure what to say but I'd like to ask for your thoughts about this chapter. This is the first time that I've written something kind of graphic and I don't know where I stand, whether it sucks, needs some serious improvement or did I overdo it, or is it something that's 'meh'?

I've checked the previous chapters and I'd like to thank you for your input about my worry over the rating (especially to ShadowDragon357) and I understand I may have overreacted and was kind of overprotective in terms of rating vs the actual content. I appreciate all your feedback, thank you all very much and I'm looking forward to reading more as we go on.

ghostgothgeek - yes, Sam has ectoplasm in her system because she and Danny kissed before ;)

Thanks again and please review as I'm always looking forward to reading each of them.

~T.E


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